Memories of the Kuro Battousai
by Phoenixangelgal
Summary: Written with Kokuryu When Pegasus hires a female assassin to wipe out Kaiba Kaiba, Yugi and Yugi's friends find out a dark history behind the girl's dark attitude. Can they survive Pegasus's game? And why are are Starfire and Raven in Duelist Kingdom?
1. Commerance

**Home is behind the world ahead,**

**And there are many paths to tread…**

**Through Shadow,**

**To the Edge of Night,**

**Until the Stars are all alight…**

**Mist and Shadow,**

**Cloud and Shade…**

**All shall fade…**

**All shall fade…**

—Pippin's Song from "The Steward of Gonder" by Billy Bloyd (From "Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King")

--

Alone in the huge ocean, there was a large isle. Packed onto the land mass were many mountains and forests, beaches and mountains, and finally an enormous castle standing safely close to the edge of the ocean. This place was known as the Duelist Kingdom, where right now a tournament for a popular trading card game has enticed powerful and strategic contenders to confront fellow duelists in order to win the honors of dueling Pegasus J. Crawford, the very creator of the all the rage card-form entertainment called _Duel Monsters_; and only after defeating him would one ever be able to claim the title of "King of Games."

--

However, there was one teenager who had the least interest in the progress of the tournament. In fact, she wasn't a contestant in this tournament—she wasn't even a duelist!

She came to this island for her own reasons, reasons that did include Pegasus.

It was all about commerce, but not exactly that kind that is permissible or very well legal in most countries…

--

_**Title: Commerce?, The Fanatical Man With the Golden Eye**_

--

**Odelia's P.O.V**.

I ambled my way through the woods, pushing away trees and other foliage out of my way. I was quiet, very quiet. An assassin had to be, or else all of my training would have been for naught. The ruffles of leaves were soft enough to dupe anyone into presuming that it was a mere breeze coming off from the atmosphere. There was no sound of cracklings under my feet, they were graceful and wary enough not to idiotically step on a twig or dry leaves like normal people would unconsciously. Were it not for my hair, I could probably be mistaken as a shadow—luckily my hat on the top of my head was dyed black so it covered most of messy locks and gave my the look of a merely silhouette that was laid out by the trees.

My mind continued to replay the very memory of my first meeting with my boss, Maximillion Pegasus. The very memory was burned in my mind like the hottest metal touched to human flesh.

--

**Flashback****/Odelia's**** P.O.V.**

I sat alone with Pegasus in his elongated dinning room. I sat at one end of his extensive table while he sat far away on the other.

Above the gigantic entrance of the dining room were two portraits: one picture had a strange man with tan skin, piercing blue eyes, and a white turbine on the top of the man's head. The man was probably from Egypt or Afghanistan, but it was obvious he was of Arabic bloodline. His eyes, indeed, were the most interesting asset though—for not only were they blue, but also lifeless and knife-like. They were the soulless bullets in a gun when the user would tug on its trigger, to travel straight and onwards no matter who or what was in the way—whether they living innocents or ferocious beasts.

The other portrait was dyed in the form of a beautiful woman with charming blue eyes, golden curls for hair, the fairest of skin, and a gorgeous—yet small—smile spread across her face. It was her I was most interested in gazing, for she had sparked something deep in the impoundments of my mentality. Angelic as she was, I recalled someone who

"I heard of your family, Miss Odelia," Pegasus-san said after his sip of tea, taking my mind and eyes away from the paintings and directly at him, "Your father was the descendent of Kenshin Himura, or some say the Hitokiri Battousai, the famous assassin whom legends say he ended the revolution and brought to life the Meji Era. Your mother was Midnight Blackwing, a maiden of Azawreth, an alter dimension of whom used the magic of the mind to make their world one of peace, intelligence, and prosperity."

Our eyes continued their interlocked staring. I looked at him acidly, for I disliked having my personal life—or what was once my personal life—being discussed in terms of business. He, however, gave a very contemplative gaze towards my direction.

'_How would he have known all of that?'_ I continued wondering that while I looked down at my tea—a strange light brown liquid that was steaming, and yet it tasted vile and bitter to my taste buds.

"Hmm..."

He stared at me with interest for a long, quiet while; it petrified me. That brown eye slowly staring into mine, as if penetrating all defenses to reach its treasure—still mulling over my thoughts and memories, like if they were a guessing game.

But after the long silence, Pegasus finally spoke:

"So, your mother was born first... The woman who gave birth to her was brutally raped by a demon," he continued.

"_Such a shame..."_ Those three words continued reiterating on and on and on in my head. The more I heard those words persist, the more I began hotter I felt. My fists began to clench tightly that I heard my knuckles crack. My blood was blistering, and my hands were ghastly white and were seeping blood from my fingernails embedding into the skin of my palms. I began seeing scarlet, like a sudden, deeply impassioned lust was coming over my entire body. I ached for his neck to be inside my clutches, so I would I garrote him and tear my talons into his pale flesh until his body was nothing more but bloody ground meat.

"THAT'S MY BUESNESS!" I heard myself screech; slamming my fist onto the table, causing Pegasus cup of tea to turn black and explode, "HOW THE FUCK DO YOU KNOW SO MUCH ABOUT ME?! TALK NOW OR DIE!"

He just gave a sick chuckle, not the least bit demoralized with his cup was now shards. "I know everything about you, Odelia. With both the Battousai's and Azawreth blood, you are _immortal_... and out for revenge. And how do I know so much you ask?

"I know so much because I own a Millennium Item. Do you know what they are?" He asked me.

"A Millennium Item?" I said blinking, '_What the hell is that? I never heard of such trinkets!_'

I shook my head no, speculating what strange powers these items could have, if they were more powerful then any magical objects Azawreth had ever crafted or obtained.

He pulled away some of his silvery white hair that covered his eyes to reveal... I drew breath.

A _golden eye_ had substituted for his real eye!

"I own the Millennium Eye, my dear. And these magical objects are not 'mere trinkets' as you believe, Odelia Azarea Himura." Pegasus began to explain,

"Five thousand years ago, the Egyptians created a powerful game known as the Shadow Games. This game was about the use of black magic to summon monsters, traps, and magic from another dimension known as the Shadow Realm. Unfortunately, the Egyptians could not control the shadow powers. So the brave Pharaoh and his six priests sacrificed their very lives to seal the darkness within _seven_ items; a puzzle, a dagger, a scale, a ring, a necklace, a key, and my Eye."

It was all extremely hard to comprehend, and yet it sounded both interesting and stimulating to hear such a narration. I couldn't get a handle on whether his facts were actually true—or whether he was trying to distract my resentment with silly fairytales for my brain to ponder senselessly until I had a migraine. Whether legitimacy or tall tales, though, I was completely confounded by the reality that this man sitting before me had actually rid himself of half of his sight for a piece of gold jewelry. My only response that I was able to muster was succinct and rather unintelligible, "…_Sugoi_..."

He only gave another chuckle.

"I knew you would say that," He mused sadistically.

I frowned bitterly, my irritation persisting again in the form of a furious headache and a hammering cardiac. He continued ogling at me; more or less likely scrutinizing for next notion that was to materialize in my psyche. It was beyond a doubt that he was pissing me off, for he seemed to enjoy scrutinizing my cranium for any possible notion that was to materialize in the psyche, like some fucking HP printer! My hands stealthily reached for my katana and fingers were writhing around the hilt with bloody temptation. Pegasus spoke again—

"I have a special job for you…" He said, changing the subject so suddenly, "Do you know a young lad about your age named _Seto Kaiba_?" Pegasus asked and handed me a photo of him.

I glanced at Pegasus dully, never looking at the photo. Now was he insulting me intellect?—or was this some sort of fucked up Trivia Pursuit?

"I've heard of him before—everyone's heard of him before. He's one of the greatest gamers in the world! Do you take me as some insolent hermit?! I know what goes on in this world just fine like any other man—I watch the news you know!"

When I was finished with the insulted, angry exclaim, I unsheathed katana and proceeded in cleaning it with a white cloth. With a bothered and acidic mutter, I began to inquire, "And what about him?"

"It's simple really: I need you to get rid of him... or just lead him to me and I'll take care of him." He answered with an evil leer.

I stared at him coldly, but deep down I was absolutely nauseated by his hellish and giddy sneer. In truth, I wanted to puke in disgust!—But I remained unruffled and my voice went cold. "Mamayo."

I put my sword away and headed off with no more words to converse to this madman, but a nonchalant wave.

--

It was at that moment when I closed the door that peculiar voices began oozing into my eardrums. Now I admit, being an assassin and a half-breed did not come with its perquisites—such as Herculean wits and body functions, which are necessitate if one ever hopes of stalking prey without notice, going in for the kill, and then getting the hell out of the mess without exposure and incarceration by the law.

In this case, it may have been _extremely_ necessary to rely on my acute audible range.

"Should we trust that little hell spawn?" I heard one of them mutter acerbically, "What if she back to finish _us_ off?! You've seen what her powers can do!"

I could already feel my fingers straining with want. They famine for the savor of the scarlet life fluid that ran through the human body… my whole body wanted the taste. This sensation would always approach with the initiation my wrath, this carnal urge which its sparks the flames of my blood from my forbidden and forsaken lineage.

"Gentlemen, her name is Odelia and I've taken special precautions if our little agreement turns sour. But from what I've seen in her character, she'll wouldn't give the least bit of care so long as she gets paid her bill without any objections from her hirer. She is not the one to betray—so long as she is not betrayed, my friends," he mused calmly.

My blood, as blazing hot as it was, suddenly went frigid in a split second. I suddenly felt, a little upbeat from my host's words for the very first time—like if he was actually shielding my dignity

"But what if—?"

But before I could hear what else they had to say, I felt a tap on my shoulder. I turned and saw one of Pegasus's guards behind me. And to my unfortunate luck, it was Kemo—the fucking chikan who's been sexually harassing me since my arrival on the island.

"Well, well, well," The kusotare chirped in a cocky, joyful voice, "If it isn't the Kuro Hitokiri Battousai! It isn't very lady-like to be eavesdropping on your employers. You could get fired and would have to work for the rest as your life as some prostitute, and you be giving men like me some sex."

I glared at him with disgust, he was like so many of the men I had came across during most of my life for the past 4 years, when puberty hit me---_hard_. And I always treated each and every pervert I come across the same: "Oi, the next time you have sex with some prostitute in the bathroom," I mumbled darkly, "I hope you slip on a piece shit and crack your head on the toilet seat. Then, I pray to kami somebody flushes your brains down the toilet."

But the perv made a fake expression across his face of a broken heart. "Aw, how can you be so cruel?"

But I glared at him and pushed him aside. I walked on a little bit and then stopped and turned towards Kemo.  
I called to him, my cruelty intact, "Simple. I hate you and I hate people just like you. I hope you burn in hell someday!"

And with those final words, I turned away from the bodyguard and walked away.

--

Since the main entrance was for duelists only, I was forced into departing via the lengthier way. In other words, I had to walk down that shadowy, freezing, and rather complex catacomb-like labyrinth which wasted too much amount of my fucking time that would have been more useful in hunting down the CEO. It was tournament procedure—and I wasn't even a part of this motherfucking competition! It left me searing in anger and I even had the strong yearning to act on impulse and later force that bastard to raise my paycheck ten-fold once I returned with Kaiba's head, fibbing that it was for "overtime."

My fury was still sizzling in my mentality when I suddenly heard the sound of metal jingling so gently… like wind chimes in a breeze. When I scouted the area, I saw nothing. I merely mused this over as the sound of one of the guards clanging his keys at a distance and continued to walk away. It was only until I heard the noise again, this time greater in volume, when I stopped and began to sweat. I've been walking that dungeon for so long, and had yet to spot a single jailbird or whatever remained of an already short-lived detainee. I merely mused that this dungeon was here ages ago, that this castle was many years old—maybe existed during medieval times or something. Sure, this deduction was a little far-fetched, but maybe I just wanted to lie to myself in case if I had to contend with a supernatural intervention. The loud clinking of chains made me think of a wrathful ghost… how he died was something I would rather not find out. I wanted to run away—get the damn job done and run away from this crazy isle. This man, Pegasus, is too insane, too calculating, and much too powerful for me to put up with—I just had to get as far away from him as I physically could if I wanted to save my common sense!

I did start to run—I dashed as far as I could. I didn't wanna stay and see this tortured soul Pegasus had in chains, not at all. Getting off this island was all I could think about. And then, I heard the sniffling of a child…

I turned into stone. Had there been an underage captive forsaken in these caverns until his judgment day? Or maybe… maybe…?

"Shit!" I muttered between my teeth, "Would he really—?!"

I sprinted down to the noise of the young kid. The weakened sobs became louder and louder—but not by much. The child was either dying or trying to restrain his or her emotions. I prayed that it was the latter. When I finally stopped to discover its source, I gasped in surprise. "N-na-nani?!"

There I found the tiny child—a mere boy about twelve or so. He was dressed like a normal teen—a red sweater with stripped sleeves, jeans, and sneakers. I was beyond appalled—His arms hung lifelessly on the ground, wrist bound to the wall with shackles and chains while his ankles were twisted by the heavy iron balls and manacles. I wanted to lash out at anyone who dared commit such a sinful act...

Instead, I restrained. "Oi, boyo!" I cautiously approached his cage and gazed inquiringly at his small, doll-like frame. "Are you awake?"

I heard him stir as he lifted his head a glimpse at me lazily with heavy, glazed eyes. He was obviously asleep, and I was relieved. "Konichuwa, shonen, doushitan?"

The boy startled and his body jerked a bit. Was the first he heard someone speak to him in a long time? He stared at me, puzzled. "Huh?" The little child uttered weakly. "Who—Who are you?"

I gestured no harm as I gently placed my hand over my chest. "My name is Odelia Azarea Himura. I mean you no harm." I continued motioning to him that I was no foe. "And yes," I quickly pointed out, "I am talking to you." I looked around, clearly referring to the dark, dismal landscape as I gestured a merely swinging of me finger. "This is not a place where someone who has only seen so few of winters and sufferings should be lingering… What has brought one so young and pure to be bound in a hellish setting such as this?"

The kid's eyes had cleared as he lashed out at me in frustration. "That creep Pegasus kidnapped me!" He barked in childish aggravation, "And he's trying to kill my brother and take over his company!"

A bit surprised from his violence, I smiled in satisfaction that this child still had the stamina and stubbornness of any rash pre-teen—that was a sheer sign that he wasn't broken.

"Now I have no clue where he is now but I know he'll come rescuing me very soon! I just know he will!" He exclaimed confidently.

I chuckled warmly and smiled. Far too many years ha passed since I felt so impressed with so warm a heart. It was far into my childhood when I last laughed so happily—days when I lived with my family and was not called the Kuro Hitokiri Battousai. Oh, how I missed those wonderful days.

"Boyo," I called to him again, "May I ask for your name?" He blinked a bit in surprise... I guess he wasn't use to formalities during his stay on the island. "Mokuba…" He uttered, "It's Mokuba."

"Mokuba…" I repeated sweetly, my smile growing just a tad bit wider. I reached deep into my kimono, feeling around for some of my provisions, and pulled out a small box. When I opened the box, it revealed a small bentou, mostly of onigiri. I didn't eat very often, and if I did—it be in small amounts. I figured starving would become one of my punishments for living. "Nee, Mokuba-kun." I slipped my bento through the bars and placed it on the floor. Then I gently pushed it… far enough to reach Mokuba without spilling anything. He carefully placed his hands around the sides of the package and laid it across his lap. He clasped one of the grainy orbs as he looked back up to me with grateful eyes. "Thank you..." He said meekly, as he gobbled up the rice ball.

"You're welcome." I watched him eat like a happy little pig, smiling along with him. There was a time when I like him—happily and without cares or table manners… A time long past.

When I realized that fact, I felt my heart grow sad again, the warmth and love slowly sap away into oblivion. I felt myself crying freezing tears from the inside.

"Aruaru Mokuba-kun," I muttered weakly, using the last bit of my joy to put up a happy front. "Your name means 'wooden horse' where my people speak. The name suits you as I can easily tell you're a stubborn one—just like a horse." I gave a fake chuckle and he joined in my merriment. "I may not know you're brother," I uttered tenderly, "But I can probably tell he's just as stubborn as thee. He'll come, Mokuba-kun, and he'll get you out and bring you home safe and sound—I promise."

I stood up and turned away—bearing the boy one final, meaningful glance. "Jan ne!" I said with a tiny wave, trying to look cute. I looked away and walked on—it broke my heart to leave him… but I had to—I had a job, and I know I can't be near someone as pure as him.

"Wait!" I suddenly heard him cry out. His voice made me freeze in my tracks. Sure, he wasn't with any sort of magical, telekinetic, or otherwise unnatural powers—but his voice certainly did have some sort of control of my heart. I worried for him so that he could do this thing to me.

I turned my head a little in his direction, indicating I was open ears. "Nandatte?"

"You look… a lot like my brother. You're nice to me and look at me like he does. You almost have the same eyes as his." He suddenly paused it was a rather awkward one too. It took a little while before he spoke again, this time in shaky words "Did anyone tell you… That you look really pretty when you smile and laugh…?" The comment surprised me a bit and I shot my head back towards Mokuba, letting my eyes peer pack into him. Off a distance, I could tell a faint blush had blessed his pale cheeks as he tried t pretend they were just signs of a rash or a fever. "Um… anyways…. Uh… Sssss---See ya!"

A small blush crept on my cheeks. Never had someone called me "pretty" since the days of my youth. All I was ever seen for now was by the lustful perverted pigs that lusted and ogled over only my breasts and everything below it—despite the fact I was underage. The fact that someone complimented something not used for lewd intentions such really did make me happy. "U—un! Sa—Sa—Sayonara!" I briskly paced off, no more words to give to the young kid.

I didn't have much time to ponder over his words, a dark voice crept my mind, stopping me in my tracks. _'If only he knew what you really are, my dear.' _The dark voice muttered into my brain. _'I wonder if he would still think you were very pretty… Heh heh heh…'_

I sighed depressingly and stopped. Bittersweet tears flowed through my eyes as I clasped my heart… now shriveled and broken again. "Just like his brother…?" I sobbed darkly. "No, I am not his brother… his brother isn't a demon, Mokuba isn't a demon. He isn't some hellish monster… I am nothing like them…"

"No," I said to myself, "This is the last time I'll ever see Mokuba."

I left, my tears shriveling into the oblivion.

**--**

**End of P.O.V./Flashback**

The sound of screeching and monstrous roars woke her from her reveries.

'_Some kids must be playing Duel Monsters,_' Odelia thought.

The Kuro Battousai crept closer while the voices grew louder. She had gotten close enough to see who was dueling: one was a young male with wild blonde hair and a green jacket, who was kneeling on the ground with the spiteful face of impending defeat. She also saw another young guy wearing a fancy, blue jacket with neatly smoothed and slicked brunet hair, laughing mockingly at the shameful lad.

"Joey, kneel like the puppy dog that you are!" the second boy laughed.

Odelia turned his attention towards the second man, her eyes leered at him like a panther ready to strike her prey and devour it.

--

"_**Seto Kaiba,**_" She spoke cryptically,_ "Take to heart and e__njoy what time you have left of this game…They'll be your last..._'

--

**To Be Continued...**

_Kris1rad_: And I like to give Kokuryu some credit for writing this story with me. And the comment about Kemo slipping on some crap, busting his head open, and having his brains flushed down the toilet isn't mine. That idea was from Episode 63 of Neurotically Yours: "E-mail Malady."

Update: This has been TOTALLY rewritten and stuff. I like this version so much better because it expresses the in-depth of Odelia's emotions more.

_**Glossary:**_

**Kuro**-black

**San**-this is used to respect of other people (Like elders) or also known like "Mr." or "Mrs."

**Sugoi**—Amazing

**Mamayo**—Whatever, I don't care, To hell with it  
**Chikan-**pervert/molester/masher

**Kusotare-**bastard/shithead

**Kami**—God

**Konichuwa**--Hello

**Shonen**—young boy/teen boy

**Doushitan**—What's the matter? What's wrong?

**Boyo**—Boy

**Bentou**—Boxed Lunch

**Onigiri**—Rice Ball(s)

**Aruaru**—Don't worry

-**kun**—a suffix used for younger boys

**Ja Ne**—See ya!

**Nandatte**—What? Come again?

**Sayonara**—See you later/Good bye

**Note: I DO NOT OWN RK, TT, YGO, THE SONGS, OR ANYTHING ELSE OF THIS STORY WITH COPYRIGHT!!! Only this actually story—made for fun and will have no profitable distributions—and all of its plot and OC's are mine.**


	2. Wrath of the Kuro Battousai

Odelia watched the duel in great interest. Even if the first boy, who seemed to be this _Joey_ seemed to be down at first, his friends encouraged him to keep fighting. Odelia was amazed at the wondrous friendship that apparently kept Joey fighting.

It activated something strange inside her. Emotion took her and tears suddenly began to appear and lightly slid from her cheeks. Memories filled with pain and loneliness kicked in and the more she remembered, the more she felt. The memories felt like burning iron to her.

While she was silent with tears, the tree right by Joey started to glow black. Joey's friends noticed it and made the brunette girl scream.

"Joey! Look Out! Behind you!" the little boy with porcupine hair yelled.

"Huh?" Joey said confused.

He turned and suddenly recognized with shock and horror as the tree behind him started to tilt and fell; it was going to fall on Joey!

"Holy shit!" he yelled and he ran out of the way. The continue its course to the ground.

"What the hell happened?!" Seto yelled in outrage.

Odelia gasped silently and shook away the tears. Her sad eyes quickly turned into surprise.

"Not again! _Azawreth Metrion Zinthos_!" She chanted in a whisper.

The black energy pulled the tree back up from the ground and replanted it into the earth in its natural tall and erect position.

--

**Odelia's P.O.V.**

Shimatta! That was close! I didn't want to be seen, yet. I sighed and resumed watching the duel.

Joey relaxed after the brief catastrophe with a sigh and summoned the Red Eyes Black Dragon—A powerful black dragon with eyes that looked like they were nothing more than rubies.

"Red Eyes --- destroy the Rapid Horseman!" he commanded.

The Red Eyes blasted away the horseman easily with its fiery breath. The duel had gotten interesting, but Kaiba didn't seem at all scared.

"Now I summon the Blue Eyes White Dragon!" He yelled. At the master duelist's call, another dragon appeared, slightly bigger than Red Eyes with light silver-blue and white coloring and sapphire eyes. The Black Dragon with ruby red eyes may have been powerful, but its power still paled to the new, Blue Eyes White Dragon standing before it.

It obliterated the Red Eyes Black Dragon with ease with its white lightning attack.

Kaiba laughed at Joey for his defeat. Joey fell to his knees, growling in defeat.

"No," He grumbled in failure, "I lost."

--

**Kaiba P.O.V.**

I laughed at Joey's humiliating defeat against me. That mutt will now think twice before he decides to challenge me at another game of Duel Monsters—or at least I hope so—if he ever does **think**, that is.

I saw him fall till he was kneeling on one of his knees, like the dirty dog he is...

"_Bravo! Bravo! Bravo! That was an amazing duel, that it was!"_ a strange voice echoed.

I turned in surprise at the sound of this new voice.

It was a dark, cold, feminine voice; so cold that I felt shivers running up my spine. It sounded a bit demonic, like if a female devil was talking to me...

And by the looks of Yugi and the others—Joey was up on his feet looking pale as a sheet, like if he had just seen a ghost—they could hear the new girl's voice too.

"Who are you?! Show yourself!" I angrily ordered.

"Ph. Seems like you woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning, that you have," The dark voice said to me.

"Who are you?!" I asked her again.

"Oh! How rude of me..."

Suddenly, I was going to get my command earlier granted—a huge shadow-like hole appeared and a person slowly rose from the hole. The master of the demonic voice belonged to...

"...I am the _Kuro Hitokiri Battousai, the Manslayer_, that I am," The cold voice introduced.

**_Title:Wrath of the Kuro Battousai! Demon in Girl's Clothing!_**

--

'_A girl?!_' I got all worked up about this girl—wait!

'_She's not a normal girl, stupid! Did you see how she appeared out of that portal?!_'

Okay, so the voice in my mind was right, this girl was not normal—not at all. I looked upon her physical features; she, of course, did not have a normal girl's physical features. The girl's skin was pale grayish white, her legs and arms were very skinny and a bit boney as if this girl hadn't eaten in months, fairly and slightly abnormally large breasts for her apparent age (I guessed she was 15), and under the hood of her cloak I could see some blood red bangs and violet blue eyes...

But they weren't a normal girl's eyes, oh no: they were dark, cold, and empty as if her eyes were like caves. The girl's eyes were full of unknown hatred, eternal sorrow, and emotionless darkness.

Icould also see a strange, violet glint coming from her forehead—but it vanished with the blink of my eyes.

This _Battousai_ didn't dress like normal girls either: A dark red cloak that matched the girl's red hair, a black, long sleeved leotard, and tabis at reached halfway to her knee along with a pair of worn out zoris.

The girl looked at me with insulted eyes, "What are you looking at, ecchi? I believe that you shouldn't be staring at women like that, that you should not."

"And you shouldn't be playing surprises and being a show-off that _YOU_ should not," I shot back, reminding her about when she suddenly came right out from the ground, surprising me.

"Summasen but I have a job to do," The girl said with a Japanese bow, "That I do." "What? And what does it have to do with me?" I asked coldly, "I really didn't have time to waste having a chat session with a strange girl wearing weird clothes.

"Simple, I have to kill you."

"Whatever."

She suddenly vanished with the blink of my eyes. The next thing I knew, I could hear the sudden whistling of wind. I ducked and quickly rolled away, only to see the Kuro Battousai standing exactly where I was just earlier with an unsheathed katana in her hands.

"Hm... you're not that bad, Kaiba-sama," The woman purred with interest, "This will be interesting, that it will."

"Prepare yourself! Haaah!" She screamed as she ran at me like a charging bull. I sidestepped the charge, grabbed her by her wrist, and used the force of her own charge to toss her to the ground.

"You're not so tough," I mused.

"Really, Seto Kaiba," the girl answered. "You underestimate me greatly, that you have."

"Then come at me again," I challenged, shifting into an aikido stance and beckoning her silently. To my immense satisfaction, she launched herself into the air and let loose with a spinning kick that actually caught me by surprise, hitting me in my chest … right where I kept the locket with Mokuba's picture in it. _'You'd better not have broken that, or I swear I'll take you down hard.'_

"I don't think I kicked your treasure that hard, Kaiba," the female remarked remorsefully, "Gomen-nasai!"

I didn't take the time to ask her how she knew about that, figuring that would be time better spent on kicking her rear end. So I went after her with a kick of my own, which she caught. However, I swung my other leg up to kick her, but she blocked that.

"You're good," I remarked. Then I smirked. "But I'm better." To demonstrate that, I flipped out of her grip … or would have had she not grabbed my trench coat, which was too long for my own good, I suddenly realized. Fortunately, I never allowed myself to be trapped in a corner with no way out, so I simply slipped my arms out of the coat before she could ensnare me.

"Clever boy," The Kuro Battousai remarked, "That you are."

"Thanks," I answered. I reached behind my back and withdrew a pair of sais. The girl answered by drawing a samurai's katana. "Wait a minute … the sharp edge is on the wrong side! How are you going to kill me with that?"

"Correction, Kaiba," the assassin replied. "I have other means of killing at my disposal. Besides, just because the blade is on the wrong side, doesn't mean I can't kill you with it, I just have to flip it over on the sharp side."

Then she charged and slashed at me. While the slash didn't cut me, an arc of hard black light slammed into me and sent me flying into a tree. My back ached, but it wasn't actually broken.

"What kind of trick was that?" I asked.

"No trick," the girl replied, "Simply compressed air and my own power, that it is."

I readied my sais and charged at the girl, fighting her head on. She swung at me again with her reverse-blade sword and I caught it between my sais, then kicked her in the stomach. The girl let out a harsh gasp of surprise as she stumbled back. I pressed my advantage, slicing at her with my sais in such a way that even if I missed, the compressed air would pummel her.

"No more playing around," I heard her whisper and then she slammed her sword onto the ground, sending a rippling wave of blackness through the ground straight at me and knocking me to the ground.

"_Yami Hiten Mitsurugi Style_," The Kuro Battousai cried, "**KARASU RYU SHIN HA**!"

The next thing I knew, the hard black light returned on her sword as she stabbed it into air. I could see tiny beams of energy shoot out from her sword, the shape of tiny ravens, aiming towards me.

I quickly got to my feet and began moving about in an attempt to dodge. The raven-like attacks however followed me. I stooped and went into a defense stance in an attempt to fight of the _ravens_.

But the strange bird-look energies went past my defense and strait into my legs, my arms, my chest, my head, and my groin. I was sent to the ground with pain all over my body, while the feminine killer laughed proudly for her strange attack.

"Damn," I remarked, as I weakly got to my feet, "You really _are_ good."

"Domo arigato," the Battousai responded. "You are better than I had anticipated, that you are."

"Of course," I answered. "I'm the best."

"You truly think so, Seto Kaiba?" the girl asked before shouting, "**_Ryu-Tsui-Sen_**!" As she shouted, she jumped high into the air and then slammed her sword down on me, or rather, my crossed sais. Using the seconds of time I'd bought myself, I kicked her squarely in the stomach, causing her to gasp out most of her breath. Then I pursued my opening, swinging my sais in flashes of a speed that most people would think of as otherworldly, each slash connecting and cutting her. However, I made a serious error, although I was not going to confess it to anyone.

I cut her forehead.

When I did, I noticed something small and purple fly out from underneath the shadow of her hood. I looked at it for an instant, but another instant after that, I heard the rumblings of a growl that didn't sound human at all. I looked away from the violet sparkle and saw that it was the girl—the Kuro Hitokiri Battousai, but her hood was off, revealing wild crimson hair and hellish blue irises with blood-colored sclera. Her mouth was filled with fangs, the canine teeth being the longest of them all and her black-painted nails were now black-painted claws.

"What the hell are you?!" I breathed out, utterly horrified by the savage creature the young woman had become.

The girl's only response was to lunge for my throat, moving so quickly that even I was taken by surprise. The next thing I knew, I was bleeding from my chest and the Duel Monsters card locket where I kept Mokuba's picture had been sliced off my neck.

"Damn it," I snarled as I desperately attempted to fend off the mad girl's attacks. Fortunately for me, the girl's attacks were wild and unfocused—Unfortunately for me, I couldn't predict when or where she'd strike. Finally, I started spinning with my sais out, figuring the speed of my spinning and the blades would serve as an adequate defense.

I figured wrong, as she slipped past my barrier and started slashing at me with her claws. I tried my best to block her, but she kept slipping past my guard. If I didn't stop her soon, my clothes and skin would be nothing but bloody ribbons.

'_Dammit!'_ I thought. _'I'm sick of playing defense—Time to go on the offensive.'_

I started attacking, slashing at her viciously. She still managed to get in some hits, but this time, I was getting in hits of my own. Finally, I struck her in the forehead with the hilt of the sai in my right hand.

Somehow, that worked, as her crazed demonic eyes rolled up in the back of her head and she fell unconscious. Her body hit the ground hard and I heard her grunt.

I looked around our fighting area, catching a glimpse of Yugi and his friends with their mouths wide opened. I didn't give a damn about those five; I was looking for something more important—and far more precious to me...

Then, I found it—my locket of Mokuba! It was lying beside a tiny patch of flowers, small little, lilac-colored flowers...

Along with something else...

...Something...

..._Interesting_...

Beside my dear locket was some sort of gem. It looked nothing more then a marble made completely out of amethyst. I looked at it carefully and I could swear there was some sort of letter on there... some crazy-looking "**S**." There was a little blood on it too.  
I reached out and grabbed my necklace, carefully stuffing it in my coat pocket. Then I reached out to grab the stone, my fingers just barely touched the strange stone...

"_The Jeweled Eye of Scath_" A young woman whispered—but her voice did not belong to the KuroBattousai, nor did it belong to that girl Téa.

"_Scath_" The very word burned itself onto my very skull.

"_The gem was born of evil's fire... The gem shall be his portal. He comes to claim, he comes to sire the end of all things mortal."_ A harsh voice whispered.

"_The gem was born of evil's fire. Then gem shall be his portal,"_ My mind soon chanted, now transfixed by the strange words whispering into my head without the use of my ears, _"He comes to claim, he comes to sire the end of all things mortal."_

The words grew more and more louder. I was scared that if they didn't stop, my head would actually explode from all this pressure those damn words made.

"_He comes to claim, he comes to sire the end of all things mor—!"_

"Kaiba?"

I blinked and turned my head, Yugi was staring directly at me with those big, violet eyes.

"Are you alright? You seem to be... in a trance..." Yugi said, sounding worried.

I glared at him darkly.

'_A trance?!_' I thought indignantly, _'There is no such thing as hypnosis, or trances, or any of that bullshit!'_

But the other part of my mind was still transfixed over _Scatch_ and whatever the demonic voice said. The words continued over and over, and I couldn't seem to forget it—no matter how much it hurt and it burned when the words repeated over and over again.

"I'm fine," I growled to Yugi, as I picked up the weird gem, "_Perfectly_ fine!"

"What are you gonna do with the girl?" He said as he turned his head towards the unconscious assassin that almost killed me.

I turned my head towards her too, realizing the strange mark on her forehead...

A _hole_.

I quickly blinked. The sudden gleam when I first saw her, the purple glint that appeared after I cut her forehead, this stone, the hole in her forehead... It all makes sense! This is a charka and it was in her head... And it was probably the reason why she is all... _Wild_...

"She's coming with me..." I said darkly, "I have a few questions for her that need some answering."

I stuffed the gem in my pants pocket and walked towards the Kuro Battousai. She still had the appearance of a wild animal—long claws now stained with my blood, the huge fangs, and the her hair looking messy like some blood-thirsty monster.

I grabbed the girl and flung her on my shoulders—not a gentleman's way of carrying a woman but then again she did try to _slaughter_ me... I heard her let out a small, grunt-like growl.

I began walking away with the girl—completely ignoring that damn Yugi Motou and his little cheerleaders—until I was far away from them in the deep forest, without having any second thoughts on turning back.

--

**Normal P.O.V.**

Yugi and the others watched silently as Kaiba walked away from them the battlefield and into the forest, to vanish within the foliage.

"Kaiba sure acted weird earlier," Tristan finally said, "Did you hear what he was saying?"

"Uhhhhh... Yeah, someting about... '_scabs_?'" Joey said, scratching the back of his head and filling his hand with his messy blond hair.

"He said '_Scatch_,' Joey," Téa corrected, "And did you guys here what else he said?"

Ryou nodded. He then repeated the words Kaiba had said, "_The gem was born of evil's fire. The gem shall be his portal._"

"_He come to claim, he comes to sire the end of all things mortal_," Yugi finished, "This _gem_... could it be yet another Millennium Item?"

Joey looked utterly terrified as he hugged himself and began trembling in fear. "Man, dat sounded like some sorta "end of da world" ting!"

Yugi began wondering about this so called "_Gem_" as well as the strange girl that came after Kaiba.

"Do you think the Kuro Battousai was hired by Pegasus?" Yugi pondered out loud.

Tristan turned his head towards the castle with a dark glare on his eyes. Her growled angrily under his breath with a clenched fist shaking in the air, "I wouldn't doubt it... The no good creep! Let a woman do the dirty work, how low can you go?!"

"Yes but," Bakura quickly interjected, "Did you also see the way she was acting not too long ago when Kaiba cut her forehead? She seemed pretty dangerous to me..."

"Yeah," Joey agreed, "Man was she one bad gal! She definitely kicked Kaiba's ass all around."

"She certainly did, but—!" Bakura try to interject before Téa beat him to it.

"But what if she comes after Yugi?!" Téa thought with horror.

Joey panicked big time, "What 'bout me?!"

Meanwhile Yugi... was looking towards the castle... pondering...

--

'_I'm worried... what if Pegasus wants to eliminate the Kuro Battousai too? What if that gem Kaiba holds really is a Millennium Item? I think both Kaiba and this Black Battousai are in great danger..._'

--

**To Be Continued**

--

_Kristen_: Finally! Chapter 2 is complete! Raises a Applause sign

_People_: Applaud

_Kristen_: And please give a hell lot of claps for Kokuryu for his work on the battle between Odelia and Seto Kaiba—for he is the greatest at making fight scenes! **_YOU GO, KOKURYU!!!_**

_People_: Applaud and cheer loudly for Kokuryu

_Kristen_: And please be sure to check some of his work too! He is a member of both and Anyway, until next time, ja ne!

**_Glossary_**:

**Shimatta**-Damn it

**Tamis**-Japanese socks... they're like regular toe socks only they have one toe for the largest toe (The "thumb" toe, I call it) on the human foot.

**Zoris**-Japanese sandals (Usually made of wood) that look like they have some heels on them.  
**Sama**-same thing as "san." Used like "Mr." or "Mrs." In terms of respect

**Ecchi**-Pervert

**Summasen/Gomen-nasai**-sorry

**Domo arigato**-thank you


	3. We're Leaving

"_Azawreth Metrion Zinthos..."_

--

In an urban area known as Jump City, on an island with a gigantic, T-shaped tower, on the highest floor of the tower, there was a fifteen year old girl meditating and hovering over the ground. And wouldn't you guess this girl's name would happen to be... _Raven_?

"_Azawreth Metrion Zinthos..."_

Yes Raven—Raven of the _Teen Titans_— the gothic, almost emotionless, psychic who just about always meditates or criticizes all sorts of remarks Beastboy creates.

Her violet hair gently danced to the current of the wind's breeze. Her deep, dark, violet eyes were closed in concentration. Her blue cloak gently took the followed the flow of the breeze's direction. Her blood red charka gently gleamed in the sunlight.

"_Azawreth Metrion Zinthos—"_

"Raven? Raven, may I speak to you?" A kindly, highly pitched voice asked.

Raven opened one of her eyes and turned—while still hovering in mid-air—to the owner of the sweet voice.

A young, tall girl with hair of red roses stood at the doorway. The soft wind gently tugged on the tall girl's purple mini-skirt and the girl crossed her arms against her purple mid-drift. The tall girl's eyes of emeralds were softly watery and her mouth was curved into a concern expression.

"Yes Starfire, I do have something to discus with you and the others. Tell them to meet me in the living room in fifteen minutes."

"Ok Raven..."

--

"_**We're Leaving": The Story of Raven's Unknown Sister**_

--

"NOOOOO!!!! I lost my chick monkey!" Beast Boy cried, as his character—some adorable, female chimpanzee—had been attacked and ran away, "Gah! Stupid thorns! Stupid cannon shooting crocodile monster thingy! Ohhh!"

Fifteen minutes had passed and all of the Titans—except Raven—had gathered around the living room: Beastboy and Cyborg sat on the couch playing Donkey Kong Country Two: Diddy's Quest on the large TV, while Robin and Starfire sat at the table with two Mountain Dew Pitch Black drinks settling close to them on the table.

Cyborg laughed at Beastboy's defeat, "Yo BB, I bet I'll complete this without even losing one life!" And just as he said that, Diddy, the cute lil' monkey with a red sleeveless shirt and matching cap, landed on an end-level target and played his victory song; a cool monkey rap, on his stereo.

"BOOOYAH!!!" Cyborg yelled at Beastboy's face, "What did I tell ya! Beat this level and I didn't lose even one life!" He gave the green boy a raspberry.

"Are you two done yet?" A voice asked coldly.

A black raven came through the door and opened its wings to reveal Raven before the black, magical, bird dissolved away into the air.

"YIII!!!" Beastboy screamed as he jumped off the couch, "Don't do that!"

Raven ignored the scream and looked at the others very seriously. "Listen," Raven ordered everybody, "I have a little story to tell you all..."

--

With a swish of her hands, the entire room turned black and the loud music from Beast Boy's and Cyborg's old video game slowly dispersed into complete silence.

Suddenly—out of the darkness— a young woman of her late teens appeared as if out of thin air.

The woman looked a lot like Raven, yet she also looked completely different from her too: She had long, violet hair going down her back with beautiful, gleaming eyes that looked like glittering amethyst gems. The woman's skin was a creamy peach-colored and healthy, unlike Raven's clammy gray skin and her expression was a peaceful and happy one. Her body was curved but it was normal since she was almost an adult.

Suddenly another male appeared in the room, standing beside the unnamed woman, smiling and laughing with her as he draped his arm on her shoulder like any best friend would when they were hanging out and goofing around.

His blood red bangs almost covered his almond-shaped eyes of soft blue. His cobalt eyes were filled with caring and kindness. The rest of his hair was tied back in a ponytail He was about the same age as the woman.

"This woman you see here," Raven began explaining as she indicated the illusion of the female adult-to-be, "Was my sister, for you see... Trigon had raped my mother before I was even born, creating this woman, Midnight... And this man beside her was childhood friend, Keiji Shugo Himura for she had to raise herself since she was a tiny child. They soon became lovers and had two children..."

Soon, the two lovers disappeared and reappeared—only a few years older, they're mid twenties. They were smiling in joy at the sight of the tiny bundle wrapped warmly in a towel within Midnight's arms, revealing to be a tiny baby.  
The baby had blue/violet eyes and a scruff of red hair of her head. It was like any other baby: pure, untainted by evil, normal...

Cyborg looked at the baby with amazement as he came closer to the lovers and looked over their shoulders at the tiny child. Pretty soon, all the other Titans did the same, embracing the sight of a beautiful child.   
"She's beautiful..." Cy said in amazement.

"Yes, your Earth people's newborns are quite adorable beyond compare," Starfire agreed.

"Dude, the kid's so cute!" BB said in astonishment.

"The _kid_, Odelia, is my twin niece..." Raven interjected.

"YOUR WHAT?!" BB inquired with shock.

Raven nodded, "Yes... Trigon raped my mother again and so I was born... at the exact same time as Odelia."

The illusion of the lovers with their newborn child vanished and just as the vanished, they reappeared again, nine years older, making them almost to their mid-thirties. The baby girl had now grown into a nine year old girl but she still had that pure, untainted face and eyes—like if she was nothing more but an angel.

The parents had a new bundle of joy in there arms, another baby girl: with a scruff of violet hair and darling amethyst eyes. The tiny newborn also had the same look of purity Odelia had.

"And that... Is Miya Himura."

--

And pretty soon the image disappeared like all the others... and the darkness soon faded away into the living room of the Titans' Tower.

"The family lived family in a safe neighborhood in Okinawa for most of their lives. But one day, a group of terrorists stormed into the Himura's residents and their neighbors' homes and killed off every single person, down to the last child—I even heard some of the girls were raped. All the innocent people in that neighborhood died—all except Miya and Odelia... And that's when I came in. I took Odelia away to the Cherry Blossom Academy for Women while taking care of Miya."

"But," Beast Boy interjected, "Why haven't I seen this kid?!"

Raven sighed, "Do you think I'd bring her to the Titans' Tower after all the danger we've been through?"

The green changeling slowly lapsed in defeat, "Good point..."

--

Raven lead her fellow Teen Titans to the "God's Children" Orphanage. It was a slightly small, two story church with a playground beside it.

Many children—some as young as four to children as old as eleven—were playing about on the playground. Some of the more kids were playing basketball on the concrete, the little ones were digging around in the sandbox, while young and older girls were playing hopscotch or jump rope on the black pave way.  
There was one tiny child playing the game of "Cinderella" on the jump rope with a group of girls. She had violet hair and innocent amethyst-colored eyes. She wore a pink kimono that was rather big on her.  
"_Cinderella, dressed in yella', went up stairs to kiss a fella'_," The young girls chanted as the tiny girl continuously hopped over the rope, "_Made a mistake and kissed a snake, how many doctors did it take? One, two, three, four, five, six, seven..."_ And they continued counting. The girl jumped gracefully and happily over the rope—for a five year old—as it got faster and faster.

"_Twenty, twenty-one, twenty-two, twenty-three, twenty-four..."_ The girl just continued jumping as the rope got faster and faster.

The other Teen Titans watched in amazement as the girl jumped faster and faster.

Raven, meanwhile, was talking to the caretakers of this small orphanage who were sitting on a bench near the playground—an old nun of her sixties and her granddaughter, a blonde hair teenager about a few years older than Raven's age. The teenager wore a rainbow-stripped sweater, a rainbow-stripped scarf, a pair of black-flared jeans, and a pair of black clog shoes.

"Well welcome back Raven," The young girl greeted politely, a cheerful grin expressing welcome to the gothic super heroine.  
"It's nice to see you again too, Erin."

"Come to play with Miya again, eh Raven?" The old woman said, her old voice sounding very cheerful and sweet too, "And I see you have brought your friends here too.

Erin stood up and walked towards the remaining Teen Titans. The Titans still watched as the girl continued jumping the rope.  
"_Thirty-seven, thirty-eight, thirty-nine, forty..._"

The young daycare assistant stood beside the beautiful Starfire and spoke,

"This is Miya Himura."

Starfire turned to the blonde woman and blinked.

"Tell me," Starfire asked in her gentle voice, "What is this strange sort of amusement little Miya is enjoying herself with?"

"Oh, she is playing jump rope. Two people hold one end of the rope and turn their wrists in a circler motion so the rope can rotate while another person who is standing in the rotation jumps over the rope every time it reaches the ground. They sometimes make fun rhymes or games when playing jump rope to make it interesting or to try out amazing tricks like jumping with two ropes or having two people jumping," Erin explained.

The red head nodded with understanding and watched as the girl continued jumping.

"I bet you're gonna break the world record for jump rope!" A young bystander said in amazement.

"I think she broke it!" Another eye-witness exclaimed, "_Forty-nine, fifty, fifty-one, fifty-two_—she just won't stop!"

"So you are the Teen Titans that protect our city...I'm pleased to finally meet you all," Erin spoke, "I have seen Raven come here every once in a while to play with Miya. She isn't up for adoption like the other kids are because Raven is holding Miya custody—but with Raven's hard and dangerous job as a Teen Titan—she asked us if she could live here. Poor Miya, her parents were murdered and her sister, Odelia, is missing..."

At the sound of the name "Odelia," Miya blinked and turned her head to finally spot the Raven's fellow friends and Teen Titans for the first time.

First, there was a boy. He had jet-black hair, a black white-eyed mask covering his eyes, tight green pants, a red t-shirt with green sleeves and an "_R_" on his heart area, green gloves, black boots with silver metal bottom at the heels, a golden belt encircling his waist, and a black cape with a yellow inside to it.

The other shorter boy had—strangely enough—green skin with darker green hair, pointy ears, a black shirt with a fuchsia triangle going down the middle, fuchsia shorts and shoes.

Then there was a huge, muscular man nearly covered in robotics... in fact, his left eye was replaced with a red, electronic eye that was beaming light.

Finally, there was Starfire and Raven—who soon came to her group to greet her little niece.

"Shukubosan!" The girl cried as she jumped right out of the jump rope and ran towards Raven, "Shukubosan!"

Raven smiled and walked towards the tiny child until they met in an embrace.

"Why did you take so long to come back?" the girl exclaimed in a sweet, nigh-pitched voice.

The blue-cloaked girl spoke solemnly, "Forgive me, I was very busy. But now I can make it up to you..."

"You mean," Miya asked as she looked up at Rave with hope-filled eyes, "I'll finally see oneesan?"

Raven nodded, "Yes, you will see your sister again."

Miya happily jumped and let out happy cries of joy and excitement.

"You mean you know where Odelia is?" Robin said with a bit of surprise in his voice.

Raven nodded, "Odelia has become an assassin for hire now. She was hired and invited to Duelist Kingdom by a _Maximillion Pegasus_ to eliminate Seto Kaiba. I am planning on taking Miya with me to Duelist Kingdom where I hope to stop her from her mission and bring her back here."

"DUDE!" BB suddenly screamed, scaring everyone, "YOU WERE GONNA COMPETE IN DUELIST KINGDOM?!"

Raven looked at her green friend weirdly, "Yes. So?"

But the changeling only continued on, "PEGASUS IS THE CREATOR OF DUEL MONSTERS—I _LOVE_ DUEL MONSTERS! I'VE WON EVERY COMPETITION OF DUEL MONSTERS HERE IN JUMP CITY! AND I'M SETO KAIBA'S NUMBER ONE FAN—HE IS LIKE THE WORLD CHAMP!"

Raven looked at her green friend, slightly shocked and scared, after hearing his ability to play the simple game.

"Duel Monsters?" Starfire said, "So you try to battle and kill your opponent with a bunch of creatures?"

Robin shock his head, for he himself have heard and played the game a bit with his teacher—The Batman.

"It's a type of card game in which two players have to use cards that have monsters painted on them to knock down the person's life points. They start with two thousand life points and the have to bring their opponents life points to zero to win the game. They can also use magic cards and trap cards to help protect their own life points while bringing down their opponent's."

Starfire nodded, beginning to understand the game just a bit.

"I must bring Starfire with me too," Raven added, "And _only_ Starfire."

But before the absolutely shocked Beast boy could interject, Raven added, "She won't waste time dueling. Robin and Cyborg can't fly and you three need to protect the city while we are gone."

BB moaned solemnly in protest, but no changes in the plan were received.

"When will our quest to bring this Odelia to our wonderful home begin?" Starfire asked with curiosity.

"As soon as we finish packing, Starfire." Raven then turned to Erin and gave her head a quick bow, "Thank you for taking care of Miya for all this time."

The blonde hair girl nodded and smiled sweetly, "Anytime Raven. We were very happy to take her in—she behaved very well and was very nice for all this time."

"Please be careful, dears," The old nun cautioned gently and worriedly.

--

Raven, Miya, and Starfire were sitting outside on the top of the Titan's Tower with knap sacks resting beside them while the wait for the male Titans to walk up. The three young men walked solemnly up the stairs and through the door, all with sad expressions across their faces (Although Robin's eyes were hard to read under his mask).  
Robin was worried for his crush's, Starfire's, and the five year old girl's safety and wondering if Raven knows what she is doing. Beast Boy was worried about their safety too, but he was also very disappointed that he would never meet Pegasus or Seto Kaiba face-to-face. Cyborg was worried about this Odelia character and worried about how she will react to Raven, Starfire, and Miya.

"Be careful Starfire," Robin warned, holding unto Starfire's hand and then embracing her.

"Good luck Raven," Beast Boy said, shaking off his disappointment.

"You be careful kid," Cyborg exclaimed warmly, gently messing up Miya's violet hair.

Raven waved and began to fly off. Starfire hugged Robin back and flew off too. Miya giggled at Cyborg and formed some kind of large, purple bubble and flew on it.

The three girls now were on their way to the Duelist Kingdom, ready to reunite the assassin with her long lost sister...

And save Odelia from killing Seto Kaiba... _and being killed_...

Robin watched them become smaller and smaller in the sky, until it appeared that the female trio utterly vanished. Despite the fact his mask can easily hide any emotions showing within Robin's eyes... the rest of his face looked slightly worried.  
--

"_Be careful girls,_" The boy-wonder uttered beneath his breath, "_I don't think Odelia will be the **only** danger in Duelist Kingdom..._"

--

_**To Be Continued...**_

--

Glossary:

Shukubosan—aunt (Who is younger then the mom)

Oneesan—big sister

--

**Kristen**: Rewritten. And I rewritten Odelia's previous home as Okinawa—based on the same place that had its share of military troubles in the year 1995, when 3 US soldiers raped a 12 year old girl. However, since the time frame for the current story will be 2006, and Odelia is 15 and lost her parents at around 2001, 5 years, right? Ugh, I'm all confused. But if they did die in 2001, this is also a bit of a reference to possibly 9/11 in a way. Ugh. I'll be seeing u.


	4. Kaiba Helps Out

**If you are near to the dark**

**I will tell you 'bout the sun**

**You are here, no escape**

**From my visions of the world**

**You will cry all alone**

**But it does not mean a thing to me**

**Knowing the song I will sing**

**Till the darkness comes to sleep**

**Come to me, I will tell**

**'bout the secret of the sun**

**It's in you, not in me**

**But it does not mean a thing to you**

**The sun is in your eyes**

**The sun is in your ears**

**I hope you see the sun**

**Someday in the darkness**

**The sun is in your eyes**

**The sun is in your ears**

**But you can't see the sun**

**Ever in the darkness**

**It does not much matter to me**

**If you are near to the dark**

**I will tell you 'bout the sun**

**You are here, no escape**

**From my visions of the world**

**You will cry all alone**

**But it does not mean a thing to me**

**Knowing the song I will sing**

**Till the darkness comes to sleep**

**Come to me, I will tell**

**'bout the secret of the sun**

**It's in you, not in me**

**But it does not mean a thing to you**

—**Aura** by Emily Brindiger (From .Hack//Sign)

------------

_**Title: Kaiba Helps Out, The Jeweled Eye of Scath**_

--

Kaiba finally laid his assassin on a soft patch of grass, releasing yet one more growl-like grunt from deep within her throat. He pulled of the hood of her blood red cloak to reveal her face.

'_There must be some explanation,'_ The powerful CEO thought, '_To all these hallucinations_.'

He continued glaring at the woman—even after an hour she was still in that hellish, demonic state: the wild blood-colored hair, her long claws now stained in Kaiba's coagulated blood, her canines that nearly reminded him of a saber-toothed tiger, the strange markings—almost like tattoos—running across her whole body, and her husky-like voice. He would bet a million dollars that the Kuro Battousai still had those gruesome blue eyes with crimson scleras.

The cold-hearted CEO pulled out the beautiful marble-shaped gem from his pocket and looked at it once more. He felt as though his brain was thrown into a torturous fire, to make Seto Kaiba's mind was squirming in pain and screaming loudly as molten metal was poured over it. Then Kaiba could her his brain release a throb-like pain as each syllable of the strange spell continued its ever chant:

"_The gem was born of evil's fire; the gem shall be his portal... He comes to claim, he comes to sire the end of all things mortal..."_

But he shook away the silly thoughts.  
'_Damn it, Kaiba, get a hold of yourself!_' His voice scowled in his head, '_It's that stupid rock in your hands—it's driving you mad again!_'

And so Kaiba regained his stern composure and gazed at the Kuro Battousai who lay forgotten on the soft grass bedding. He finally realized that it was after the stone was lost is when she went mad. And the hole in her head... it must have meant the charka was actually implanted in her head.  
How in the world does this weird gem keep her from transforming into some ferocious beast?—Hell if he had a clue but maybe putting the purple gem back in will change her back.  
"Worth a try," he muttered with a shrug of his shoulders.

He sat on his knees beside the redhead, jewel at hand, and brushed away her wild bangs with his other hand. Kaiba ignored his neurons' messages on how soft her hair was and continued the task at hand. He carefully laid the crystal over the hole in her head and pushed in gently.

The Kuro Battousai moaned softly in pain from the intrusion and squint her eyes. Her voice no longer sounded husky and low like the growl of a dangerous wolf, but much softer and lighter like a normal, human girl. Her long, black-painted claws retracted to the size of regular finger nails, just barely past her fingertips. The teeth soon shrank and dulled from the teeth of a saber-tooth tiger to normal human teeth. The markings on the Battousai's gravestone gray-colored body soon melted away.

"Uhhh..." She moaned.  
The assassin moved her head to the side while her eyes screwed up—whether in pain, or if trying to wake, or if having a nightmare. The CEO got back to his knees and brushed the dirt of from his back legs. He walked calmly towards the shimmering and kneeled toward it, pulling out a clean cloth from his jacket, and dipped the small towel into the calm water.  
Seto heard her moan in stirring and turn over again, the red haired assassin's face staring unconsciously at the stars of the night. As the president of Kaiba Corporation came near her, he studied her features more precisely now that he had the chance to—now that he had the chance to really see what he was up against.

Using his long, cool fingers in one hand, he slowly entangled them within the assassin's crimson bangs and pushed them aside to reveal her forehead. Once he was done that task, he used his other hand—the one holding the clothe—to gently stroke her forehead like a father would with his daughter when she would catch a fever. The cold-hearted man soon realized this woman was only a teenager his age—she was so young but yet, she looked so old, like if she had been through an eternity in hell. Her face looked sad, like if she had been crying a lot and for a long time. The young woman's cheeks were soft to Seto's touch and she continued moving her face away from his touch. While one hand seemed to have been hypnotized to just constantly stroke Odelia's forehead in some weird motion with the damp fabric while his other hand was more interested in exploring the girl's features... like this was to first time they had actually touched a creature such as her.

The girl moaned some more and awoke. Her eyelids slowly opened to gaze into the cold CEO's sapphire eyes. Her eyes had change, her scleras were now a normal white color instead of blood red and her irises were a blue/violet color instead of that horrible bright blue color.

"Where am I?" The assassin-for-hire asked dully.

Kaiba looked at her emotionless as he answered her question, "You're with me. You lost the fight and I took you here so I can get some answers."

"Huh?" With a lazy roll of her eyes, The Kuro Hitokiri Battousai asked, "Like what?"

She was suddenly grabbed by the tight color of her leotard and was staring directly into sapphire.

"Like," Seto Kaiba began coldly, "Who are you, where did you come from, and why you're here trying to kill me?"

"Pfft! I don't need to tell you my name or where I come from and I'm here tying to kill you because Pegasus hired me to do so," Odelia answered back coldly, "That he did."

"You're name. _NOW_!" Kaiba ordered.

"Hell no."

Kaiba was not in the mood to her it but then again he's usually never in the mood.

"Talk or I'll force you to."

But the girl just went on, "Ieie."

The rest of the interrogation was like this: very little answers, arguments, mild cursing from both sides in Japanese and English, and a whole lot of frustration.

"Augh!" Kaiba rubbed his temples.

This woman was giving him a horrible headache now. He asked her everything—from the question: "What's you favorite color?" to "How long have you been an assassin-for-hire?"—but this damn girl only told him why she's here trying to kill him.

"That's it! I can't take this anymore!"

The CEO finally slapped that wet clothe on the grass and stomped towards the lake to think and to cool down. He splashed the cool water across his face and washed off the dry blood from his face and cleaned up his cuts on his cheeks.

He never noticed the young female sitting beside, gazing at herself through her aquatic reflection. She picked up a rock and threw it like a Frisbee; the rock skipped across the lake ten times and sank.

Seto looked at her skeptically then picked up a rock. He gave it a shot, throwing it across the lake—he beat Battousai's record for his own rock skipped fifteen times.

"You win, that you have."

Kaiba merely huffed and said boastfully, "I always do. After all, I am the best."

The Kuro Hitokiri Battousai merely rolled her eyes and continued gazing at the lake.

"The marble," Kaiba said, changing the subject, "The amethyst marble I found. What is it? Why do you have that thing in your head?"

"Oro?" Odelia said, but then blinked as she recognized the questions, "Oh. This?"

She pointed at the purple gem in her forehead and looked at Kaiba questioningly, Kaiba nodded.

"It keeps me from going mad so I have to wear it always—like ka—!" She cut of and looked away, adding softly, "Like _she_ had to, that she did."

But Kaiba did not like the answer, it was not very specific, "But _what_ is it?!"

But the girl continued looking away, her face solemn and frightened.

"It's _The Jeweled Eye of Scath_, that it is."

The CEO noticed her fear.

"Something happen?" Kaiba asked in an unmoved way.

"It protects me from _Him_," Odelia began in a meek voice, "That it does. _He_ did this to my mother, my sister, and I—put this curse on us. I have to wear this jewel or _He'll_ find me. And it keeps my own demon blood in check."

"'_Him_?'" Kaiba inquired, "Who's '_Him_?'"

Odelia continued, looking at Seto with fearful eyes,

"H—he was a terrible man... He tricked my grandma with a false disguise and raped her not once—but_twice_... Little kusotare! And made my family what they are now... kawaridane... kijo... outcasts to humanity... And cursed us with a destiny unforgivable..."

"Hmph," Kaiba said, "I refuse to believe this destiny shit."

"There are a lot of things you wouldn't believe about me if I told you..." Odelia continued on, sounding ever sadder.

She threw a rock near the ducks coming by, nearly hitting but wouldn't, and she looked at her rippled reflection.  
She soon sang, but only a bit:

--

**The sun is in your eyes**

**The sun is in your ears**

**I hope you see the sun**

**Someday in the darkness**

**The sun is in your eyes**

**The sun is in your ears**

**But you can't see the sun**

**Ever in the darkness**

--

"Strange," Kaiba thought, "That is how I feel."

"Really?" Odelia said coldly, "You're nothing like me... and there are a lot of things you wouldn't believe about me if I told you..."  
"You said that twice," Kaiba interjected.

Then his voice went dark and cold, "And my patience is running out."

He suddenly grabbed Odelia by her neck without warning and hauled her into the air.  
"I would be interested in hearing more of your amusing story," Kaiba continued on with a low, growling voice, "But I'm in a hurry. Tell me the route you came out of the castle, NOW!"

"H-H-Huh?" Odelia gasped in surprise.

I know you didn't come out the front door. I heard it was for duelist participants only and they had to win ten starchips. You don't have a duelist glove on, so you must have been able to enter and exit a different way. Tell me!"

"I—I—I—" Odelia tried to talk, but his grip was too strong, "I... can't... breathe—!"

"TELL ME!!!" Kaiba's grip tightened around her throat.

"…S—Stop…" Odelia gasped weakly. She then began chanting in a weird language, "_Asawreth_… _Metrion_… _Zinthos_!"

The red-head fell on the ground with gasps, coughs, and wheezes for air. She had to admit the cold-hearted son of a gun had a very strong grip, even if he was only about her age. A little too strong, in that matter—since he was only seconds away from practically _killing_ her.

"It's—" But Odelia broke into a few coughs before continuing, "It's about eastward from where you had your duel with that boy—Joey. Then you will see two pillars covered in moss, go to the pillar on the left and there'll be a small stairway leading into the dungeon…"

Kaiba merely smirked with dominance and turned away.  
"There," He said in his usually cocky voice, "Now was that so hard."

Odelia coughed a bit more and under her breath, she muttered darkly, "Hiretsukan."

"Thank you," Kaiba exclaimed with that dominant and yet now horrid smile, as he turned his head towards Odelia. Odelia gasped and her eyes widen.

He turned away from the girl and left—he had all the info he needed. Now the cold CEO was on his way to Pegasus's castle... on his way to Mokuba...

--

**Odelia's P.O.V.**

As I watched the shithead walk away... I saw flames... Flames burning... Burning in black darkness.  
I no longer saw Seto Kaiba-san—but a tall figure: black hair, a soldier's uniform, and a bundle of clothes in his arms. The soldier turned his head towards me and had hellish smirk across his face.  
From his lips, the man spoke coldly towards me, "_Thank you_."

I gasped in horror. It was the man... who took her away... And he vanished with the bundle—a baby—in the darkness as the flames obscured my sight of them.

--

"Oh—oh..." I began to speak, but my voice was shaken in fear from that horrible vision.

Kaiba turned again and looked down at me with curious eyes.  
"Hm?"

I finally gained the courage to speak.

"Odelia—Odelia Azarea Himura—that is my name, that it is."

I saw my ex-target nod his head with understanding and turned away. He walked on without me.

"It's a beautiful name," Was the only thing Kaiba said, "Bye."

I watched as he walked away farther and farther until the trees and shadows hid him.

--

"..._Matane_..."

--

**To be Continued...**

--

**_Glossary_**:   
**Ieie**—no

**Oro**—Huh/What

**Hiretsukan**—Bastard

**Kawaridane**—hybrid/mutation/freak  
**kijo**—demoness/witch/ female devil

**Matane**—Good bye/See you later

_Kristen_: Ok. The X-mas present has just been revised, once again. For all of those who are interested in having a Kaiba/Odelia pairing, this little revision has something for ya all to be happy about. Also, I have to edit some parts of the chapter in order to make it match the future chapters. PLEASE LET THIS BE THE FINAL EDIT! Bye.


	5. Of Many Meetings

**I tried to kill the pain,**

**But only brought more.**

**(So much more)  
I lay dying, and I'm pouring  
Crimson regrets and betrayal.  
**

**I'm dying, praying, bleeding, and screaming!  
Am I too lost to be saved?  
Am I too lost?**

My God, my tourniquet,  
Return to me salvation!  
My God, my tourniquet,  
Return to me salvation!

Do you remember me?  
Lost for so long...  
Will you be on the other side  
Or will you forget me?  


**I'm dying, praying, bleeding, and screaming!  
Am I too lost to be saved?  
Am I too lost?**

My God, my tourniquet,  
Return to me salvation!  
My God, my tourniquet,  
Return to me salvation!  


**(Return to me salvation!)**

**  
Spoken: I want to die!**

My God, my tourniquet,  
Return to me salvation!  
My God, my tourniquet,  
Return to me salvation!

My wounds cry for the grave,  
My soul cries for deliverance,  
Will I be denied?

**Christ,  
tourniquet,  
My suicide...**

...My suicide...

**...My suicide...**

—**_Tourniquet by Evanescence_**

----------

Odelia sat on a branch of an oak tree, dagger in her hand. She watched at her image reflecting off the blade, her cold, violet eyes gazing into the reflection's cold, violet eyes. She craved blood, she craved release, and she craved to just hurt herself.

She stabbed the sharp weapon slowly, and painfully, into her wrist and dragged it agonizingly up her arm, making swerved lines and tiny swirls and zigzags as the knife began reaching her shoulder. Soon the cut was followed by more intricate, complex lines and markings. Blood began sliding down her arm, dripping from her elbow, and slowly raining from of her arm, and landing on the soil of the tree.

--

**_Title: Of Many Meeting: Yugi-tachi meets Odelia_**

--

It had been a hectic night for Yugi and his friends:

First, Seto Kaiba had arrived in Duelist Kingdom, a man on a mission to save his little brother. He'd come armed with a new weapon . . . the Duel Disk, a portable device that would enable a duelist to duel anywhere, rendering arenas unnecessary and even obsolete. To test the effectiveness of the Duel Disk, he dueled Joey . . . and wiped the floor with him in spite of Joey's powerful new monster the Red-Eyes Black Dragon. Of course . . . the Red-Eyes' power paled in comparison to that of the Blue-Eyes White Dragon mastered by Kaiba.

Second, there was the Kuro Hitokiri Battousai. After Kaiba punished Joey with a humiliating defeat, this girl appeared trying to kill the cold-hearted CEO of Kaiba Corporation! And she was very frightening indeed—especially when she turned into a monster and almost butchered Seto to death!

And thirdly, the crew had run afoul of Panik, one of Pegasus' eliminators, specifically hired to "weed out" weak duelists. Panik had brutally defeated Mai Valentine and taken all of her star chips. When Joey saw Panik's cruel treatment of Mai, his first impulse had been to beat the brutish eliminator until he was just a smear on his fists. Instead, Yugi dueled with him . . . and won, his alter ego emerging to send Panik to a realm of unholy darkness.

--

Now Mai was traveling with them and Joey had been talking more than his usual amount of trash. Tristan theorized that the brash duelist was just trying to look tough for Mai, especially in light of the fact that he was still nursing his ego after Kaiba's vicious trouncing of him.

"I don't care who else has made it this far, I'm gonna kick all their asses and make it to the top!" Joey declared. "Nobody's gonna stand up to the power of Hurricane Joey!"

Mai sighed in slight irritation. "Must you go on about how 'wickedly awesome' you are?" she asked. "It's kind of a bore."

"Don't hate me 'cuz I'm great, Mai," Joey answered with a smirk. "Hate me 'cuz I'll win this tournament."

Just as he was about to brag some more, he felt a drop on his face.

"Is it raining?"

"Joey . . ." Bakura uttered.

"What?" Joey asked. "It's just water, right?"

"Actually, Joey . . ." Téa replied with a shiver. ". . . It's blood."

Joey felt more drops land on his face. He reached up and touched one of the drops. He pulled his hand away so he could look at it.

"Who's bleeding on me?" he asked. "WHO'S BLEEDING ON ME?!"

The shout was accompanied by a red-cloaked girl falling out of the tree above Joey . . . and landing in his arms. The duo landed on the ground and Joey's hand accidentally slipped on the girl's chest.

Joey screamed.

"What are you screaming about?" Tristan asked. "I thought you'd like having a girl fall for you."

"She's bleeding!" Joey yelled, then with a pause he suddenly screamed, "...And it's her—The _Cory Hockey Battiesaw_!"

The girl came to her senses and slipped out of Joey's arms, landing on her feet. "I know." She bent down and picked up a bloody dagger. "I know, and it's _Kuro Hitokiri Battousai_, you baka inu."

Then the Black Battousai laid her cold eyes on Joey's hands, which were still resting on her breasts, and looked up at Joey square in the eyes.

She didn't look too pleased.

Joey quickly panicked and looked at her with trembling eyes.

"Mer—mer—mercy..." The blonde begged shakily.

But in only a second...

"HENTAI!" The assassin screeched like a high-pitched banshee and kicked Joey straight in the gut, "TOUSAKUSHA!"

She attacked Joey and beat whatever was left of him after the duel with Kaiba. Joey let out screams and pleas in fear and pain, and the Black Battousai continued throwing punches and kicks at him while screaming Japanese.

Finally, Joey was sitting by a tree with a black eye, a bloody nostril, lots of bruises, and maybe broken bones.

"Ecchi," the Black Battousai grumbled, "I'll kill you if you touch my bust again, that I will."

"Is that your blood on that dagger?" Yugi asked, his soft voice and violet eyes filled with concern.

"Yes," the girl admitted, brushing her hands from her dirty work on Joey. "So what?"

"Why are you hurting yourself like that?" Yugi asked.

"Why shouldn't I?" the girl asked, her voice a deadpan, "I need to hurt myself."

"Why?" Yugi asked.

"Because I shouldn't have existed," the girl answered in that same deadpan voice. "I'm an abomination, that I am."

"Why would you call yourself that?" Joey inquired, staring at her with his one good eye.

"Because that's what I am," the girl responded.

"Oh, great, another one of those gothic, 'woe-is-me' girls," Mai groaned. She stormed up to the girl and slapped her. "What is wrong with you that you feel you have to cut yourself?!"

Yugi, Téa, Joey, and Tristan gaped at Mai with shock while the girl spoke once again.

"You would not understand," she said. "You would not understand at all . . . and if you did, you would wish you didn't."

"What's your name?" Yugi queried.

The girl turned and began to walk away into the night. Before she completely disappeared into the shadows, she said one word.

"_Odelia_."

--

Raven, Starfire, and Miya landed in Duelist Kingdom.

"So we're here," Raven spoke.

"Yay!" Miya cheered. "I'll get to see onee-san again!"

"Even though this Odelia is an assassin for hire, I am certain that if she is a relative of yours, she cannot be wholly bad," Starfire spoke.

Raven resisted the urge to smile. "Your optimism is as touching as always, Starfire. For Miya's sake, I hope you're right."

Raven and Starfire took off their knapsacks and opened them, revealing normal clothes they would use to disguise themselves. All Raven really had to do was take off her cloak and pull on a pair of black pants over her leotard. Starfire, on the other hand, had to change from a midriff-baring purple top, matching miniskirt, and thigh-high boots into a white T-shirt with a star on the chest and blue cutoff jeans with leather sandals.

Raven and Starfire also had to change their names to keep low profiles. Raven changed her name to _Midnight Kurohane_. Starfire changed her name to _Kory Anders_.

"As much as I don't wish to duel, we'd look less conspicuous if we looked like duelists," Raven suggested.

"A good plan," Starfire agreed. "But I do not wish to injure and rob innocent humans."

Conveniently enough, the two Titans spotted a pair of sinister-seeming men walking by them . . . and they had duelist's gauntlets almost full of star chips.

"These men . . . they have no good purpose in mind," Starfire uttered.

"You'd be correct," Raven replied. "They're eliminators, hired by Pegasus to spice up the competition by out-dueling 'weak' players."

"Earlier I stated my lack of desire to injure and rob innocent humans," Starfire said. "But these are not innocent humans."

"Miya, wait here," Raven whispered. "We won't take very long."

"Ok, shukubo-san," Miya whispered back.

Raven and Starfire—or rather Midnight and Kory—emerged from the shadows, ready to rob the two eliminators of their duelist's gauntlets. To their surprise, the eliminators simply removed their gauntlets and gave them to them, along with their decks.

"Huh?" Raven uttered.

"I am confused," Starfire stated.

"So am I," Raven agreed.

Miya giggled as the two eliminators walked away. "I told those mean men to give you their gloves and chips."

"Your assistance is most appreciated," Starfire said.

"Ditto," Raven added.

"You're welcome!" Miya chirped. "Now let's go find onee-san!"

The three girls journeyed through Duelist Kingdom looking for any sign of Odelia.

"She's concealing herself," Raven spoke. "Not just from our eyes, but from my empathic abilities as well."

"That's all right, shukubo-san," Miya said. "I'll find her." She created a small energy raven and told it to find Odelia. Obeying her orders, the energy raven flew away.

"What if Odelia does not wish to be found?" Starfire asked.

"It doesn't matter," Raven replied. "We'll still find her. She's in more danger than she realizes."

At that moment, a shadow darted past Starfire, hidden within the trees and bushes. Starfire yelped in surprise and shot her starbolts at the shadow.

"Kory! Stop it," Raven ordered sharply. "We cannot bring attention to ourselves. It'll interfere with saving Odelia."

Starfire stopped shooting starbolts at the shadow. "I am sorry, Raven—er—I mean Midnight!."

Raven sighed tolerantly. "Let's keep going. We still have to find Odelia."

----

Kaiba stalked through Duelist Kingdom, his destination the castle in which his younger brother Mokuba was being imprisoned. Pegasus's goons could try their hardest, but they wouldn't stop him. Not even that strange, demonic assassin.

'_Demonic?'_ Kaiba thought with a silent derisive laugh. '_Please. There are no such things as demons.'_

His musings were interrupted when he heard small explosions. "Misfired traps, maybe?" he surmised as he walked in the direction of the explosions.  
--

Soon enough, he found three girls. Two appeared to be about his age, while the third was obviously much younger. The leading girl was petite, although he'd wager that she was taller than Yugi, and her hair was colored a very unique shade of purple. The other teenager was tall and very tan, even if that tan was slightly orange, and her hair was a vibrant scarlet. The little girl also had purple hair and looked somewhat like the leading woman—but with a much more cheerful appearance.

He looked closely at the girls and saw that the older girls were wearing duelist's gauntlets with the star chip slots almost completely filled.

'_Don't see many girl duelists around these parts,'_ he silently remarked. '_Were they the cause of the explosion I heard?'_

He decided to shadow them for a while, solely to satisfy his own curiosity. Now that he thought about it, the little girl reminded him of that assassin – only far happier. She was practically skipping, for crying out loud.

Unfortunately, his shadowing was interrupted when he heard the purple-haired girl say, "You can come out now, whoever you are."

Kaiba stepped out of the shade that the trees had provided him.

"Who are you and why are you following us?" the red-haired girl asked, her voice sweetly accented.

"I don't see why I should tell you that," he replied.

"You are the most arrogant person I've ever met," the purple-haired girl stated in a dark monotone.

"You're not the first to call me that," Kaiba stated with a smirk. "So? Who are _you?_"

"I don't see why I should tell you that," the purple-haired girl answered, repeating Kaiba's words perfectly.  
Then she added a bit to her response, "Stalker."

Kaiba chuckled. "You're an interesting girl, you know that?"

The teen billionaire could have sworn he saw something flicker in the purple-haired girl's eyes. Embarrassment? Confusion? Some amalgam of the two?

It didn't matter. He'd wasted enough time with these girls. Mokuba was still in Pegasus' clutches and he intended to free him.

"Whatever. I've wasted enough time here." He started to walk away. "See you later."

'_What an ass,'_ Raven thought.

--

'_He called us interesting!'_ Happy shouted joyfully and bounced about and off the walls of Raven's mind. '_I think he likes us!'_

'_Arrogant punk-ass!'_ Brave declared, not really caring about the happier personality of Raven and utterly disagreeing with the fact the man could like Raven. '_We should have whooped him good!'_

'_Are you sure?'_ Timid asked, once again trembling in fear. _He's really scary . . . and really cold._

'_Aw, come on, he's not that scary!'_ Happy insisted cheerfully. '_And he's kinda cute, too!'_

'_Yeah, for a conceited jackass,'_ Brave added, putting sarcasm in the mix of her words.

'_Billionaires tend to be full of themselves anyway,'_ Wise added knowledgably.

'_You mean that was . . .?' _ Brave started to say.

'_**Seto Kaiba**,'_ Wise finished. '_Odelia's target.'_

--

"Midnight? Midnight?" Starfire asked.

Raven returned to the real world. "Sorry, Kory. You were saying?"

"I was saying that was a very unpleasant boy," Starfire replied. "He spies on us and then he behaves in such a condescending manner toward us!"

"I think he was just sad," Miya said.

"Sad people do not behave in the way that that boy behaved," Starfire declared.

"He was trying not to look sad," Miya explained simply.

--

"I don't believe that girl," Mai said, crossing her arms and puffing her cheeks a bit in frustration. "What's the point of cutting yourself up?"

"Try to be understanding, Mai," Téa pleaded. "She might have just had a really bad life."

"Not all of us have perfect lives," Mai admitted, "Doesn't mean we all cut ourselves up."

"She's creepy," Tristan said. "And I don't mean in the good way."

Yugi said nothing, but his Millennium Puzzle's eye suddenly glowed. But unlike its usual golden glow whenever the _Other Yugi_ came out, it was glowing black. "What's happening?" he wondered.

"Something wrong, Yug?" Joey asked.

"My Puzzle is glowing," Yugi replied.

The glow spread throughout the entire pyramid-shaped pendant . . . and exploded outward, catching Yugi and his friends within it. When it faded, they found themselves in a school.

--

"Hey . . . it's an all-girls school!" Joey exclaimed as he raised his fist up in the air. "_SWEET_!"

Téa whacked him upside the head. "Would you focus, please? We need to figure out how we got here!"

"I think the Puzzle brought us here," Yugi said. "Somehow."

"School," Mai uttered. "Never one of my favorite places."

"The other girls hated you, didn't they?" Joey surmised. "Kept stealing all their boyfriends, did'ja?"

"Not my fault I was that much hotter than their skanky asses," Mai grumbled with a shrug of her shoulders.

"Hey, guys, I think that's Odelia!" Bakura exclaimed as he pointed at a redheaded girl sitting at a desk in the back of the classroom.

The others turned around and saw that it was indeed Odelia. Her expression was a deadpan, just like it had been when they first met her, but there was clear sadness in her eyes. Oddly enough, it seemed she had grown just a bit shorter and looked younger. The other difference was she was dressed in some kind of kimono too.

"Hey, check out the freak," one of the other girls in the classroom whispered to the girl sitting next to her.

"Yeah, I hear she's a witch," the other girl whispered back.

"Uh-huh, I bet that's why Janice is sick," the first girl whispered. "She got cursed by the witch."

The two girls snickered cruelly.

Yugi and Mai turned to look at Odelia and they saw a glimmer of tears in her eyes. Odelia turned away from the girls and stared out at the window, gloomily.

"Why, you goddamn stuck-up skanks!" Mai yelled. The two girls paid her no mind. "Hey! Look at me when I'm talking to you, damnit!"

"I don't think they can see or hear us," Yugi said. "In fact, I don't think any of this is real. At least, it's not real now."

"What do ya mean?" Joey wondered.

"What he means is that we're somehow living Odelia's memories," Bakura clarified, "You can tell because Odelia looks just a bit younger. This must have happened a year or two ago."

"So if we're living Odelia's memories . . . this must be why she's the way she is!" Mai concluded.  
Then she looked at the younger version of the Kuro Battousai, noticing the tear slipping out from the corners of Odelia's eyes.

"And..." She added sadly, pitying the poor teen, "Maybe this is how she felt when I scowled at her and called her _another one of those gothic, 'woe-is-me' girls._"

--

The vision ended and Yugi and company found themselves back in the real world.

"That was a trip," Tristan remarked.

"Yeah," Joey agreed.

"We've got to find more duelists so we can get ten star chips and enter the castle," Yugi stated. "We've gotta get in there so we can rescue Grandpa."

--

"Pegasus, sir, Kaiba is still alive," Croquet reported.

"I already know that," Pegasus answered him in his usual calm and normal tone, "It looks like our Kuro Hitokiri Battousai isn't all she's cracked up to be after all. Find her and dispose of her. I don't give my employees the opportunity to fail twice."

"Yes, sir," Croquet said with a bow and walked out.

Pegasus stood up and walked to the window. A smirk grew upon his face as he held a glass of wine within his palm.

--

"_Ah, yes, Odelia Himura_," Pegasus cooed with a few chuckles, "_You may very well get past my guards . . . but you won't get past me. . . ._"

--

**To be Continued...**

--

_Kris1rad_: I would like to thank my co-writer, Kokuryu, for writing up this story. I also have a special announcement to make for all faithful fans and fans-to-be. Once I revise the other 4 chapters of Memories of the Kuro Battousai (Chapter 1 has now been revised.), I will create a "Memories of the Kuro Battousai" on Deviant Art where fellow fans can create tribute arts and short stories to other fellow fans and see artworks/short stories done by other fans. The link to the fan club will be sent along with Chapter 6—which I do not plan on making until I revise my previous chapters. Thank u again, to our fellow fans of "Memories of the Kuro Battousai," and I hope you'll enjoy being a member once the fan club is up.  
**_Glossary_**:

**Tachi-**used like "Mr." or "Mrs." Except instead of being formal, it usually means like "Yugi's gang" or something.

**Baka inu**—(Direct translation) idiot dog

**Hentai/Tousakusha/Ecchi**-pervert  
**Onee-san**-big sister (with respect)

**Kurohane**-(Direct translation) Blackwing

**Shukubo-san**—aunt (younger then one's parent, with respect)


	6. A Woman's Smile

**I couldn't tell you why she felt that way,  
She felt it everyday.  
And I couldn't help her,  
I just watched her make the same mistakes again.**

What's wrong, what's wrong now?  
Too many, too many problems.  
Don't know where she belongs, where she belongs.  


**She wants to go home, but nobody's home.  
It's where she lies, broken inside.  
With no place to go, no place to go to dry her eyes.  
Broken inside.**

Open your eyes and look outside, find the reasons why.  
You've been rejected, and now you can't find what you left behind.  


**Be strong, be strong now.  
Too many, too many problems.  
Don't know where she belongs, where she belongs.  
**

**She wants to go home, but nobody's home.  
It's where she lies, broken inside.  
With no place to go, no place to go to dry her eyes.  
Broken inside.**

Her feelings she hides.  
Her dreams she can't find.  
She's losing her mind.  
She's fallen behind.  


**She can't find her place.  
She's losing her faith.  
She's fallen from grace.  
She's all over the place.  
Yeah, oh**

She wants to go home, but nobody's home.  
It's where she lies, broken inside.  
With no place to go, no place to go to dry her eyes.  
Broken inside.

She's lost inside, lost inside...oh oh yeah  
She's lost inside, lost inside...oh oh yeah

—Nobody's Home by Avril Lavigne

----

Moonlight was still shinning brightly, now that it was in the center of the sky now. It had illuminated many things of Duelist Kingdom—including Kaiba's path to Pegasus's Castle.

Although his body was growing tired and weary, Kaiba's soul and determination were on fire, a fire that would not diminish anytime soon. He kept walking, although his legs were sore and he felt the cuts on them becoming more unbearable.

He suddenly stopped at the sound of leaves scrambling and looked up into the trees. There was a rather large raven there, glaring at the CEO darkly from its perch. The crow gave Kaiba a big, intimidating caw and continued glaring. Strangely enough, Seto grew frightened by the caw as it stared at the raven with wide, bulging eyes—but the caw was not the reason of Kaiba's shock...  
...But the raven's four, blood red eyes...

Seto suddenly felt something otherworldly jerk him towards the raven, like some sort of hand had grabbed a hold of him and was pulling him towards the bird...

...Then everything went black...

--

**_A Woman's Smile: Blood Stained Hell_**

--

Yugi and the others were silent with grief for the rest of the night. Mai was the most silent, realizing Odelia's words from before... not too long ago...

--

"_You would not understand at all . . . and if you did, you would wish you didn't."_

_--_

Mai looked down sadly, as she continued hearing those words...  
"So that's how she felt when I slapped her," Mai stated sadly, "She thought I was one of those girls..."

But Bakura interjected, "But I think there's more to that girl's pain. Did you notice nobody wanted to come close to her?"

"Yeah, it's as if da girl's got some disease over her dat they don't wanna get!" Joey agreed.

Yugi looked at his puzzle worriedly and thoughtfully.

'Why did my puzzle transport us into her past? Is it some sort of new power? But wouldn't it glow gold then and not black? Maybe the Kuro Battousai has something to do with it...'

Finally, Yugi spoke aloud, "We should find her. She may be a holder of a Millennium Item or might know something about them... and she could be in great danger..."

"Cuz' I don't think that bastard Pegasus would let her run off after failing to kill Kaiba," Tristan growled, "Stupid lil'—forcing a woman to do his dirty work then kill her off if she messes up!"  
But Joey looked at his friend suspiciously as he hummed a bit with thinking.

"Ya sure ya not in love wit' her? Ya usually can't win a girl even if ya killed yerself for her!" Joey teased, "Remember Ribbon?"

Tristan blushed as his blond buddy had brought up that subject again and growled in frustration.

"Well, what about Mai?! You're trying to impress her and the only thing she's doing is rolling her eyes at your bragging and flirting!"

Joey clanged his teeth and balled his fist, "DAT'S IT!"

He socked Tristan in the face then tackled into him and with that, they 2 started fighting—like two dogs.

Mai and Téa sighed as they watched Joey put the brunette boy in his headlock, then grossing Tristan even more with a wet willy.

"Take dat, ya dolphin freak!"

But Tristan merely flipped over and was about to give him the loogie.

"How about this, you blond-ass monkey!"

The two girls sighed some more as they stopped looking at the disgusting fight.

"Why do men always have to fight?" Téa asked with disgust, "And then they do it with really crude and gross moves?"

Mai sighed and shrugged her shoulders, "Well... You know the old saying, _men are from Mars_. They sure seem to act like they are out of this world..."

"True," Téa agreed with a nod.

Yugi and Bakura decided to join in to break up the fight. But as soon as Yugi took one step, he saw the Millennium Puzzle glowing with a black light again.  
"It's happening again—!"  
But his words were once again cut of as everything became consumed with black light...

--

The gang soon found themselves in a dark room. It took awhile for their eyes to fix into the nearly pitch black... since there was no camp fire to light up the area. And the only sounds now that filled the area were the sounds of rain and the occasional thunder.

Suddenly, a flash of lightning revealed where they were. Bakura was the first to speak.

"We're in somebody's bedroom..."

Joey and Tristan immediately stopped fighting and stood up.

"Man," Joey exclaimed nervously, "Hope dey don't call da cops!"

Just then, there was the sound of thunder and soon after there was the sound of a baby crying filling the entire room.

Joey jumped and yelped with fright and Tristan began panicking.

"Great, we're busted! Run for it!"

But Mai and Téa caught the boys by the tails of their coats.

"Did you forget? This is one of Odelia's memories—they can't see us, they're just illusions!" Téa scowled.

Joey scratched the back of his head, "I guess we did!"

Téa sighed at her blond and brunette friends and their idiotic ways. Those two always seem to act like fools and get into trouble...

Suddenly there was a groan coming from the darkness of the bed as a figure tried to push itself up. The figure reached for the lamp and began to bring the room a gradual light until the room was as bright as if candles have lit the room. Amidst the dim lights sat up the figure, the blanket falling a bit to reveal its chest—obvious that it was a male as it was flat and lean yet quite muscular. Blood red hair had overflowed his eyes as the man pushed them away to reveal small, almond-shaped blue eyes.

"Wow," Mai said as she was nearly drooling as she gazed at the man, "Now _that's_ a hunk!"

Téa was also drooling as hearts had replaced her eyes, "Yeah, he's totally hot!"

While the girl's were drooling over this new man, Joey and Yugi were glaring daggers at him with jealousy.  
The men however yawned and rubbed his head. His eyes were barely opened.

"Koishii," He groaned in a soft, tired voice, "Little Odelia-chan is awake."

There was another yawn; this one belonged to a female. And indeed it was, another figure sat up beside the redhead. The blanket fell to reveal a woman. She had extremely long, violet hair and violet-blue eyes. But unlike the man's bare chest, she had a light violet, silk nightgown on. Now it was Joey's and Tristan's turn to drool—while Bakura and Yugi went red-faced. Mai and Téa however were too busy drooling over the male to notice her.

"Um... guys," Yugi softly and shyly interjected, "I think those are the baby's parents..."

"I know," Mai sighed with defeat as she slouched a bit, "But a girl can dream, right?"

Joey and Tristan, however, grew teary eyed and complained, "Aw man! And she even has dat fine bust!"

The woman turned until her feet were hanging over the edge of the bed and she spoke in a gentle voice, "Of course."

She stood up, the nightgown had reached to her feet and as she walked, part of her dress seemed to drag along the ground. She walked towards Tristan as he panicked with fear. He was afraid he would bump into him and they be busted—but instead with went right through him! The sudden cold sensations running up his spine made the boy jump up and yelp in surprise, but the woman paid no heed and continued her walk towards the crib. She bent over the crib and held up a small bundle of blankets

Yugi and his friends looked over the woman's shoulders to gaze at the sight of the crying bundle and there eyes widened with shock. A baby's head popped up from the bundle and the cheeks were glimmering in the candlelight with tears. The baby's eyes were blue-violet and there was a scruff of red hair on her head.

"What da—?!" Joey exclaimed in astonish, "Dat kid is dat Kuro Battousai babe! I know it!"

"Yes, she has the same blood red hair as the Kuro Battousai—"But Ryou looked at the man, "And the same blood red hair as him to."

The woman carried Odelia to the bed and cradled the child close. She laid down the bed and her husband, where they began to comfort to poor infant. However, even with the comfort of her parents, Odelia still began to cry.

"Ah!" The man said with astonishment, "I see what Odelia-Chan is missing..."

He gave his wife a quick kiss and walked towards the cradle, ignoring the intruders just as his wife did. He picked up a stuffed animal, which was a pure white husky dog, and returned to the bed  
"She couldn't find sweet, ol' Yuki-Chan when the storm woke her up. She should be happy now."

The man gave Odelia the dog, in which she hugged tightly and snuggled her head against it. The woman smiled and stroked the baby's head and the husband snuggled close to them.

"Midnight," He whispered, "She has your lovely eyes."

The woman, Midnight, giggled a bit with flattery but then added, "And she also has your lovely, blood red hair that I adore so much, Keiji-koi."

With a small smirk curving across his face, Keiji leaned towards Midnight and kissed her while Odelia fell into a peaceful slumber.

The lightning flashed again and the Millennium Puzzle glowed black.   
"What's happening?!" Téa cried out in shock.

"My puzzle—" Yugi exclaimed, "Is taking us to some other place!"  
"Not again!" Joey complained.  
Everything went black yet again as the very sight of Odelia's family vanished.

--

"Uh..."

Kaiba grunted a bit as he laid flat on the ground. He slowly clenched his fists on the ground, but something went wrong...

His eyes opened widely as he realized the feel of dirt and possible mud was not evident and looked at the ground. The ground was actually a well-polished floor—like that in an office building and any trace of forest had been utterly erased as the CEO was, indeed, in some office building.

The moonlight glimmered out of the large windows and onto the well, polished surface of floor like moonlight on a fine blade. But the moonlight soon vanished under a veil of dark purple/blue clouds and the sound of rain had revealed to be apparent.

"_Tap-tap-tap_," was the steady rhythm of rain on the windows, "_Boto Bota_!"

Kaiba merely shook off the pulse of shower and looked a bit more at his settings.

"Hmph, this must be some kind of trick of Pegasus," Kaiba affirmed coldly, "Just like that stupid crow. I can't believe I let it startle me."

Suddenly there was the sound of stabbing and a gurgle—like a person was talking with pudding in their mouth. Then more sounds of stabbing and gurgles ensued for a minute of two. The sounds interested Seto Kaiba as he walked towards the foundation of the dins. Seto's small adventure led him towards some door where the ruckus was loud and booming as thunder. He gently tapped the doorknob, wondering if it was some hologram or illusion, but felt slightly lukewarm brass run up his spine into his nervous system.

"This is either a rather impressive trick," Kaiba mused quietly out loud, "Or I actually did, somehow, get transported to some office."

He had a firm grip on the doorknob and turned it aside, the door opened up.

Kaiba let out a gasp and his eyes were wide as plates at the sight he had saw...

The walls and floors were dripping and stained in crimson and bleeding corpses were sitting and leaning against the walls with blood dribbling out their mouths and wounds. There was only one person leaning against the wall that wasn't a corpse or bleeding, merely stained in it. It was a girl with blood red hair.

A rather familiar girl... with blood red hair.

"Odelia?" He uttered in a soft undertone.

He looked at her with utter revulsion as she noticed most of her body was bathed in utter crimson. What frightened him most was the fact she was smiling about it, and it was a rather ghastly and repulsive. Her blue/violet eyes looked empty and dazed. She seemed so out of spaced out that she never realized the powerful head of Kaiba Corp. walking in front of her and kneeling towards her eye level.

"What is going on?" Kaiba demanded, "What the hell are you doing, sitting there in this mess of blood?!"  
But Odelia merely continued staring into nonexistence as she raised her blood-stained hands up into the air and gaped absentmindedly at them.  
"I'm sorry..." She finally said.

Kaiba merely raised his eyebrow in perplexity, "Hm? Sorry for what?"

"Look," she said in a ghastly, happy voice, "Kaasan, Otousan... Look at my hands now... I dyed my hands in red... I've become a monster now... A youkai monster..."

A glimmer of tears spilled down her cheeks as she gazed upon her hands.

"Odelia," Kaiba gently called as he reached out to touch her face, only for his hand to go right through it. He pulled his hand back and jumped to his feet with surprise, "What the hell?!"

But Odelia continued on, acting as if Seto wasn't even there.

"Miya, I will find you. No matter what, I will find you, imouto-chan. Even if I have to kill everyone in the entire world..."

Kaiba looked at Odelia, staring deeply into her eyes.

"_Imouto-chan_…?" He repeated slowly.

Suddenly a dark hand snatched Kaiba from behind and took him away from Odelia in a matter of seconds.

--

Midnight and Keiji were now standing within a church now, at the end of the fellowship hall. The stained glass windows brightened in red, orange, and gold.

Suddenly the doors banged opened from the other end of the hall and a bunch of men marched hastily in.

"Who are dose guys?" Joey asked softly as they sat on the benches, once again unnoticed by all around them.

"Soldiers," Ryou answered softly, "They are dressed in soldiers' uniforms. I wonder what they are after..."

The soldiers pointed their guns at the couple and there was a click, ready to fire at any time. Midnight trembled in fear but Keiji held her close. They both looked each other strait in the eyes, knowing death was inevitable. Keiji smiled softly and sweetly while Midnight smiled meekly and her eyes begin glimmering like she was about to cry.

"They're not running away!" Ryou exclaimed in shock.

"And it looks like dere not gonna try and fight too!" Joey exclaimed.

Téa looked at the couple worriedly, "But why—?"

But Yugi spotted the soldiers' fingers on the triggers, beginning to pull them back. Yugi gasped in shock and jumped right out of the bench.

"Yugi, don't!" Téa warned.

The soldiers pulled their triggers all the way and there went a "BANG!" Yugi jumped out in front of the couple, to try and shield them from the bullets. Bullets flew from their guns and soared strait into Yugi. He flinched and squint his eyes—ready to feel hellish pain and possibly death.

But the bullets soared on and on, passing strait through Yugi as if he was only thin air. Yugi sadly realized that this was all an illusion and all things would simply go through him and all people and creatures would not see him.

And so the bullets went past Yugi and strait into Keiji and Midnight. The couple were sent back by the force of the bullets and landed hard on the ground, blood dripping from their chests. They lay next to each other, staring into each other's eyes.

"At least..." Keiji uttered softly and breathily, "... Odelia and Miya are able to get away..."

Yugi, Téa, and the others gasped in shock as they watched the lovers' last breaths.

"Yes... I'm glad..." Midnight whispered, "I just hope they will be far away..."

Keiji slowly outstretched his hand and lay it upon Midnight's, then gently clasped to it.

"Aishiteru, koiishi," He whispered lovingly with a tiny smile, "I'll see you soon in heaven. And I hope we'll see Odelia and Miya-Chan safe here on this earth."

Midnight smiled back and uttered gently, "Aishiteru, Keiji-koi."

Soon their eyes became glassy and their bodies limp. Midnight and Keiji Himura were dead.

Yugi dropped to his knees, crying. Tears spilled so freely from his eyes and he began softly sobbing. Téa gently hugged Yugi and allowed hm to nuzzle close to her.

The puzzle finally glowed black and had swallowed up Yugi and the others into darkness once again.

--

Miya soared along the forest at a fast speed while riding her magical bubble.

"WEEEEE!!!" She screamed in delight, now twirling her bubble, "This is fun!"

She sped past a bunch of unconscious kid but froze. She slowly went reverse and stopped to look at the group of teenagers on the dirt.

"Uh oh!" Miya exclaimed.

She then began twirling again, "Danger Danger! These big people are not sleeping with blankets! They'll get colds! I must tell Shukubo-san and Kory-san! Danger! Danger!"

She jumped off her bubble and shook the shortest of the males. When he wouldn't move, she jumped back on her bubble and flew away as fast as she could.

--

Kaiba lay on the ground, absolutely unconscious. A young girl appeared from the darkness and stood before him, looking down upon him. The woman had blood red hair and blue/violet eyes.

--

"_Konnichiha, Kaiba-sama_..."

--

**To be Continued...**

--

Glossary:

Chan—yet another way of saying Mr. or Mrs. This is used for young girls/women or little kids in terms of cuteness (It is sometimes used for males in terms of cuteness or teasing)

Koishii—lover/darling/sweetheart

Yuki—(name) snow or lucky

Koi—used like Mr. or Mrs. It is used for lovers

Boto Bota—used in Manga for the sound of rain  
Kaasan—mother (with respect)

Otousan—father (with respect)

Youkai—demon/monster

Imouto—little sister

Aishiteru—I love you

Konnichiha—hello

Sama—used like Mr. or Mrs. Like san, it is used for respect for older people or people with more power or in a higher social class

_Kris1rad_: To all of those who have never even thought about reading the Yu-gi-oh Manga, Ribbon makes her small appearance in Duel (Chapter) 7 of the very 1st novel in Yu-gi-oh. Tristan has a crush on her and—with some of Yugi's help—gives her a very special type of puzzle to her. However, their "evil stepmother queen" of a teacher finds the puzzle and tries to solve the puzzle in order to expel Tristan. So what does Yugi do? He goes to Yami Yugi and transforms the puzzle into the teacher's face (in a way) so that once she solves the puzzle, her face cracks like puzzles to reveal her true and ugly face to all of the class. Sadly enough though, Ribbon says no to being Tristan's girlfriend, poor guy. Of course, Ribbon makes more of an appearance in the unofficial episodes of Yu-gi-oh (Season 0). She wasn't my favorite characters. Also, I got most of Odelia's angst from Hakkai's angst in Saiyuki: Volume 4, both are poor, unfortunate souls (I sound like Ursula from the Little Mermaid). Finally, I got the idea of Keiji's and Midnight's death together from a cut scene of Final fantasy X-2, when Yuna gets a dream of her and Tidus dying in front of Vagnagun (As well as a flashback of Lenne and Shuyin dying in Vagnagun during "1000 Words"). Anyway, if you are fans of this story, please check out this website I made: http://motkb. Bon vayage!


	7. Odelia's Turn to Help

**Clock is ticking while I'm killing time.**

**Spinning all around,**

**Nothing else that you can do,**

**To turn it back**

**Wicked partnership in this crime,**

**Ripping off the best, condescending smile.**

**Trying to forget (Wasting my time),**

**We're falling right through.**

**Lying to forget (Telling more lies),**

**We're raising our truth**

**COME and tease me.**

**Clock is ticking while I'm stealing time,**

**Can't you turn it back?**

**Stop the cycle, set me free,**

**Run away.**

**Silence sneaking along my path,**

**Grab the rope off me, feeling like we'll fly (Feeling like we'll fly).**

**Trying to forget (Wasting my time),**

**We're falling right through.**

**Lying to forget (Telling more lies),**

**We're raising our truth.**

**Trying to forget (Wasting my time),**

**We're falling right through.**

**Lying to forget (Telling more lies),**

**We're raising our truth.**

­­­­­­­--- Our Truth by Lacuna Coil

--

As Miya ran to find Kory and Midnight, the older girls had run into a boy wearing a blue vest over a black shirt and blue jeans. His hair was black and styled in a mess of spikes. He was rather handsome, but his appearance was marred by an arrogant expression.

"Either of you two looking to lose to a guy who's gonna go all the way to the top?" he asked, his rather handsome voice also marred with arrogance.

"All battles are battles of chance," Kory replied, rather intelligently, "You cannot assume that X'Hal will always smile upon you."

"_Kory_!" Midnight whispered…. Or more like _hissed_… under her breath.

"Whatever," the boy sneered. "So, cutie pie, wanna duel me?"

"I will warn you now, I am far smarter than you give me credit for," Kory answered.

The two duelists took their positions in the arena, Kory staring down the boy.

"Before we battle, I would like to know your name," Kory said.

"Sure, babe," the boy replied. "My name's Len. And because I'm feeling so good, I'm gonna give you all my star chips if you win." He raised his wrist, displaying eight star chips.

"To be fair, I will bet all of my star chips against you as well," Kory stated as she placed her deck down on the lower right-hand corner of her card zone. She raised her wrist as well, displaying an equivalent amount of star chips.

Midnight sighed. "I hope you know what you're doing, Kory."

"I do," Kory answered simply.

--

**_Starfire and Raven! Odelia's Turn to Help_**

--

When Miya made it to her guardians, she saw Len wailing.

"How?! How did I lose?!"

"You underestimated your opponent," Kory replied. "Now I will take your star chips."

She took all of Len's star chips, filling both her gauntlet and Midnight's.

"Now we can reach Pegasus's castle!" she chirped with glee.

"Our objective is not to win this contest," Midnight answered sternly. "It is to find Odelia and get her away from here before Pegasus kills her."

"If we are to prevent Pegasus from ever coming after Odelia again, we must take him down," Kory retorted, her voice suddenly changing into a more serious tone. "The only way to get close to him is to enter his castle. Posing as duelists who filled their gauntlets will facilitate our goal."

Midnight sighed. "You're much smarter than some people give you credit for."

"I was instructed in the art of war back on Tamaran," Kory answered. "It is not much different from Earth's methods of waging war."

"Shukubo-san! Kory-san!" Miya's youthful voice exclaimed.

"Miya, what is it?" Midnight asked.

"I found some unconscious big kids!" Miya replied. She took off on her bubble, Kory and Midnight following her.

--

The three girls saw six unconscious people on the ground, five teenagers and one woman in her twenties.

"I saw them sleeping out here, but they wouldn't wake up!" Miya exclaimed.

"They look like they're in a memory trance of some kind," Midnight said.

"A memory trance?" Kory asked curiously.

"They're reliving someone's memories," Midnight replied. "Witnessing them as though they were there themselves."

She chanted in the Azarathian language and blackish-blue light engulfed the sleeping six.

Suddenly, they all woke up, groaning and rubbing their heads in pain.

"Man… dat was some kinda mind trip!" a boy with floppy, messy blond hair exclaimed.

"Tell me about it," another boy, this one with brown hair gelled into a forward-pointing spike, agreed.

The smallest of the boys, his hair arranged in starburst-like black spikes tipped with crimson and blond bangs, wrapped his arms around his knees and sank his head into his knees as he stared with empty, depressed eyes. "It was horrible. Just horrible, what they went through . . ."

A brunette girl dressed in a pink vest over a yellow blouse and blue skirt placed a comforting hand on the small boy's shoulders. "It'll be ok, Yugi."

A soft-faced boy with long, spiky white hair ruminated sadly, looking at his smaller friend.

"Hey," the blonde woman in her mid-twenties spoke, the first to realize the ones who woke them up in the first place. "Who are you three?"

"Greetings!" Kory spoke exuberantly, as she came a little too close into the woman's space and began asking with much excitement, "My name is Kory Anders. What is your name? What is your favorite color? Where do you come from? How did you get here? And would you be my friend?"

Midnight slapped her forehead in embarrassment and anime sweat dropped.

"Mai Valentine, purple, Japan, took a cruise ship, and I'd say yes if you weren't actively freaking me out," Mai replied.

"Sorry!" Kory exclaimed, taking a few steps back. "I will attempt not to 'freak' you out."

"Better," Mai said.

The floppy-haired blond looked at Midnight. "You know, you'd be a lot cuter if you smiled more."

"Oh, so you've finally moved on from Mai, huh?" the pointy-haired brunet remarked.

"Screw you, Tristan," the floppy-haired blond snapped back. "Where da hell does it say I can't look at another woman?"

"You don't _advertise_ looking at another woman, nimrod!" Tristan replied in a "know-it-all" tone. "If the woman you want sees you checking out other girls, she's gonna think you're not into her! Then again, I don't think it matters because Mai wouldn't notice you if you were richer than Kaiba!"

"Take dat back, ya asshole!" the floppy-haired blond yelled, lunging at Tristan.

Kory darted between the two boys, easily holding them back from each other with her strength. "Stop this mean-talking now."

"Boys," Midnight muttered in her grim tone.

"Sorry about them," the multicolored-haired boy said, looking a bit more cheerful then he was not too long ago. "I'm Yugi, Yugi Mutou. The guys your friend's holding back are my good friends Tristan and Joey."

"I'm Téa," the brunette girl introduced herself.

"I'm Bakura," the white-haired boy greeted.

"I'm Midnight Kurohane," Midnight answered, "and the girl preventing your nimrod friends from killing each other is Kory Anders."

"Hey, that little girl with you looks kinda like you," Téa observed. "Is she your little sister?"

"Not really," Midnight replied. "She's my niece, Miya Himura."

"Konnichiha!" Miya chirped.

--

Meanwhile, the president of Kaiba Corp. found himself in pitch darkness.

"Uhhh…" He moaned softly, "What….? Where…?"

He suddenly felt something cool and damp stroke across his forehead. The stroking was gentle and calm, like a breeze of the wind. He moaned at it's contact… just vaguely remembering a feeling like this when he was much younger… And finally he opened his eyes, finally seeing light…

Seto Kaiba had awakened.

"Where am I?" he wondered.

"With me," the voice of Odelia replied.

Kaiba looked and saw Odelia looking back at him; grimly as usual.

The torn up clothing he had previously saw her in was now gone. Her torn, black leotard was replaced with a white tube top with a bold, black strip on the ends and a matching miniskirt. The tattered, blood red cloak was also replaced with a sleeveless, white, long trench coat with a black collar. He also noticed her pulling her hand back, holding a damp cloth.

"Well…" Kaiba mused out loud with a hint of irony in his voice, "Isn't this a _rather_ familiar scene—?"

"I found you lying on the ground, almost as motionless as the dead," she continued, acting as if she didn't even hear his comment. "I brought you here so you would have a safe place to awaken."

"And where is _here_?" he asked suspiciously.

"_Here_?" Odelia echoed. "A sanctuary. A place I can be safe."

"Safe from Pegasus, right?" Kaiba asked.

"Yes," Odelia confirmed. "He is a far more dangerous man than you think he is."

Kaiba chuckled unpleasantly. "Believe me, I know just how dangerous he can be. Why do you think I'm after him?"

"Is there a reason you're after him?" Odelia asked.

"He took my little brother," Kaiba snarled. "Mokuba, the one person in the world I can actually say I give a damn about."

Odelia paused, a sad and slightly disappointed expression on her face.

"What do you care?" he asked sourly. "Do you even have any family?"

"A sister," Odelia replied. "Somewhat younger than Mokuba. Like Mokuba to you, she is the light that remains within my soul, _tainted and foul_ as it is."

Kaiba snorted, but not derisively. "You don't seem so bad for a demon-girl who tried to kill me."

"Demon," Odelia murmured. "I didn't know you believed in such things, since you said so yourself."

"I can read people pretty well, so I know when someone's telling the truth and when they're not," Kaiba said. "You don't seem like the kind of person Pegasus would hire to kill me, so tell me . . . what got you working for that son of a bitch? What does he have on you?"

Odelia sighed. "You can stay with me and I will answer as best as I can."

As much as the brunet CEO would like to know what was going on, he had other things to do. Like finding Mokuba.

"On second thought, that story can wait for another day. I have to find Mokuba."

"You will be in danger if you exit this place," Odelia warned. "This sanctuary is located in a blind spot in Pegasus's surveillance. If you leave, he will find you."

Kaiba chuckled darkly. "Exactly my intention, only he's going to find me in a place he really doesn't want to go." He rose from the small cot and exited the sanctuary, mentally steeling himself for the Duel Monsters inventor's goons.

"Good luck . . . Seto," Odelia whispered.

--

"So what brings you cuties here?" Joey asked.

"The duel," Kory replied. "Both Midnight and I have won enough star chips to make our way into Pegasus's castle."

"That's awesome!" Yugi exclaimed with some newfound excitement. "We'll have more people to help us shut down Pegasus!"

"He hired Miya's older sister to kill a young man named Seto Kaiba," Kory stated. "He is a very bad man indeed and must be punished."

"He's worse than bad," Téa said. "He's downright evil. He kidnapped Yugi's grandpa to force Yugi to duel him and kidnapped Kaiba's little brother Mokuba to get at Kaiba's company."

"Miya's older sister is in danger of him, too," Midnight said. "Since she didn't kill Kaiba, he'll most likely have her eliminated as a punishment for failing. I know how his kind works."

"Uh, what's with that weird gem on your forehead?" Tristan asked, suddenly changing the entire subject.

"It looks like some kind of meditation stone," Bakura observed. "I've heard of those things. Supposedly, they focus and balance your spiritual energies."

"You're kind of right," Midnight said.

Bakura blushed.

"Hey, I think he digs her," Joey whispered to Tristan, nudging the other boy slightly.

"I think you're right," Tristan whispered back, snickering.

"I like that belt," Mai said to Midnight. "Where'd you get it?"

"Family heirloom," Midnight replied.

Mai observed Midnight closely, eyeing the younger female's pale gray skin. "Don't you ever go out in the daytime?"

"I try," Midnight deadpanned. "Then I burn and I realize it was much better to stay inside."

"I think you just need SPF 60," Mai said. "Then you'll be fine for the beach."

"I wouldn't have time," Midnight replied. "For one thing, I'm a very busy person. For another, I have a wayward niece to find before she gets herself killed by a power-mad game inventor."

"Hey . . . you look kinda like her," Yugi said.

"Like Odelia?" Midnight asked. "You've seen her?"

"Yeah," Yugi replied. "You look a lot like her, only she has red hair and you have purple hair."

"We were born at the same time," Midnight said, "but we're not twins. She's my niece."

"That's some kind of messed-up family tree," Joey remarked.

Under her breath, Midnight muttered, "You have _no_ idea."

"Let's go," Yugi said. "We won't make it to Pegasus's castle standing around talking."

Yugi and his gang began to walk, accompanied by Midnight, Kory, and Miya.

--

A tall, handsome man stood on the age of the cliff, overhead on the beach. The warm, orange/red sunset had given his face a warm, angelic look while the sunset and the find gave his crimson, blood red hair the look of fire. Contrasting with his blood red mane was his set of sapphire blue eyes… blue as the ocean of which he was gazing upon.

"_Odelia_…"

He turned away from the ocean. A soft, serene smile was spread across his lips. He certainly was angelic by appearance. The wind blowing his hair, his loosely sky-blue shirt, and his pair of white hakami pants…. The rather skinny, lean, slightly muscled body…. And the soft-spoken voice… He was simply beautiful.

Suddenly his form transformed almost entirely—his clothes shifted into a blue trench coat over a green suit, his form grew until he was more muscled and taller, his short, blood red hair that flowed into the wind shifted into a brunet with a bowl-like shape, his softened face turned to a more serious and dominant one, the smile, too, was filled with dominance, however….

The eyes—although they changed shape from almond to almost hawk-like—were still the same ocean blue.

"_Odelia_…" His voice sounded more serious and colder…

The man before the edge of the cliff now was Seto Kaiba.

--

Odelia gasped as she sat up from the cot; heart pounding in her chest, Bits of sweat were dribbling down from her temples, and her breathing was heavy panting.

Once her heart and breathing had finally calmed, she collapsed back onto the cot.

"Unchi," Odelia muttered, "What a fucked up dream that was."

'_But I must admit_,' She confessed mentally, '_He does have my dad's eyes…_'

She silently contemplated bit, the weirdness of the dream and silently blushed a bit at the very idea that she was thinking about Kaiba's eyes. She began blushing even more by the fact she was recalling touching his face while he was asleep.

--

"_Mokuba, the one person in the world I can actually say I give a damn about._"

--

"SHIMATTA!" The redhead shreakied in frustration, "Curse him!"

She jumped out of the cot and stomped away.

"When I find him, I'm gonna bang him so hard in the head—he'll bite his damn tongue off!"

But she soon noticed, while walking in the woods, that one of Pagasus' goons was just up ahead of her…. Gun at hand…. Aiming…. Aiming at….

Her eyes widened in shock as the man was ready to shoot at Kaiba, who was looking up at the sky to figure at what direction he was going.

She gasped as the bodyguard was pulling the trigger and quickly drew her sword. While the guy was pulling back the trigger—ready for the kill, she charged at him—not caring how loud her steps were.

--

"Kaiba! _LOOK OUT_!"

--

There was the sound of the gunshot, and then the sound of a sword slicing through…

--

_**To be Continued…**_

--

Glossary:

Unchi-Shit

Kokuryu: What a cliffhanger. Who lives? Who dies? Will Raven ever find Odelia? Will either one of them survive long enough to meet each other? Who is the man in Odelia's dream? All these questions – and more – will be answered at some point, as long as you're patient. See you on the other side.

Kristen: And now it is my turn to start writing. So please don't miss out on the next chapter of Memories of the Kuro Battousai coming soon. Au revoir!


	8. Eye to Eye

Despite Kaiba's arguing, Odelia joins him in rescuing Mokuba for reasons only for her to know. Meanwhile, Yugi soon learns how the day has two sides when it comes to the human mind, and how sad it is to say goodbye to your childhood…

--

**I still remember the world  
From the eyes of a child  
Slowly those feelings  
Were clouded by what I know now**

Where has my heart gone?  
An uneven trade for the real world  
Oh I... I want to go back to  
Believing in everything and knowing nothing at all

I still remember the sun  
Always warm on my back  
Somehow it seems colder now

Where has my heart gone?  
Trapped in the eyes of a stranger  
Oh I... I want to go back to  
Believing in everything

_**Iesu, Rex admirabilis  
Et triumphator nobilis,  
Dulcedo ineffabilis,  
Totus desiderabilis.**_

_[Spoken:_

"_As the days pass by me…_

_As wars rage between…_

_I find myself…_

_These last days…_

_This parasite…_

_(It feels so…)_

_The darkness of the storm…_

_Is me…_

_Is me…"_****

Where has my heart gone?  
An uneven trade for the real world  
Oh I... I want to go back to  
Believing in everything  
Away

Where has my heart gone?  
Trapped in the eyes of a stranger  
Oh I... I want to go back to  
Believing in everything

I still remember…

—_Fields of Innocence_ by Evanescence

--

"Kaiba! LOOK OUT!"

There was the sound of the gunshot, and then the sound of a sword slicing through…

--

_**Eye-to-Eye: Fields of Innocence**_

--

The bullet hit Kaiba in his arm. He screamed out in pain and surprise as he grabbed his arm, hissing from the pain now searing through his whole arm and shoulder. He quickly regained his balance while turning around—wondering who would dare shoot him from behind like some coward.

Instead he saw a body fall, the head dismembered from the body as it rolled away from it while blood was spurting out of the headless body. Behind the corpse, brandishing a now bloodstained katana at hand was Odelia, the girl he seemed to keep on bumping into during the entire night.

"Daijoubu, Kaiba-san?" Odelia asked, actually sounding worried.

The CEO blinked a bit in surprise, surprised to see Odelia actually looking worried for him instead of giving him a grim, impassive stare—either that or a rather a very hateful glare that would pierce him to his very soul.

"Yes," Kaiba answered coldly, "What the hell are you doing here?"

She took off a cloth and wiped the blood off her sword while she began answering the question. Her voice became grim and serious as it always is.

"Well for two reasons only: one, I came here to save your ass before it got blown off like it almost did just a few seconds ago. Two, I need to kick Pegasus's ass because he didn't pay me my renting fee."

Kaiba raised his eyebrow. "_Renting Fee_?"

"When someone hires me to kill, they first have to pay me part of the payment to make the deal. Then in _almost_ all of my cases, they pay me the rest of the payment once I'm done the assassination, finishing off our deal."

"Hm… how very sly and yet businesslike," Kaiba said with a smirk, "Maybe I should hire you as one of my employees?"

Odelia blushed a bit. Suddenly one of the trees behind her glowed black with energy and suddenly exploded, utterly freaking out the CEO Prince.

"But…" Kaiba retorted, clearing his senses of what he just saw just three seconds ago, "How can I even trust a rather… _unstable_… woman like you?"

She glared at him, her cheeks puffed a bit in indignity before she gave a comment of her own. "Oh yeah, and you're Mr. Perfect? I do recall that you once tried to kill a certain Yugi Mutou by using some fucked up excuse of a fun land that seems to think that killing is enjoyable, hai?"

"Good point," Kaiba muttered, turning away and walking on. "But you are an assassin. How will I know you won't double-cross me? How do I know this all isn't some plan you and Pegasus haven't brewed up in the first place: lose to me, try to win my trust, and then kill me on the spot while my guard is down?"

"I've seen Mokuba…"

Kaiba froze and turned right back at her, glaring at her icily.

"I'm listening. Why haven't you told me?"

"Because I didn't know until now—that the boy I was trying to cheer up back in the dungeons was your little otokun. I'm such a baka, that I didn't guess that you were Moku-kun's nisama until now. I….. I like that kid… He reminds me of… of—"

"Of your _imoutochan_?" Kaiba finished.

Odelia nodded.

He sudden appeared in front of the redhead, their face only centimeters apart. With a small, interested smirk, he added, "I'm listening _intently_."

"Look, I said to him that his nisama would actually save him. It almost didn't happen, so I'm gonna make sure it _does_ happen. I—I want to save Moku-kun with y—you." And with that said, she looked away from Kaiba's icy blue eyes and blushed.

"U—Um…"

Kaiba smirked a bit and said teasingly, "Shy?"

"N—No, it's just your eyes…"

Kaiba raised his eyebrow and pressed more and more on the issue, "What about them?"

"I—I should r—really get that bullet o—out of you're a—a—arm."

Kaiba sighed and lifted his arm to her, deciding he'll harass her on the subject later. He had to rescue Mokuba, for the hundredth time—and not to mention he wished not to worry Mokuba any further with the sight of a heavily bleeding arm.

Odelia sighed and slipped her fingers into the wound and maneuvered them until they could grab the bullet. Then she slowly pulled it out, so that the bullet wouldn't slip. Finally she pulled the bullet out of his arm and threw it aside. Kaiba was grunting, groaning, and trying hard not to scream out in pain during the whole process.

'_Fuck, if it hurt __**this**__ much getting the damn bullet out… I would have kept the damn thing inside!_' Kaiba thought to himself.

"Daijoubu," She whispered in a soothing, gentle voice, "_Asawreth Metrion Zinthos._" And suddenly, a soft, blue light was emitted from her hands and transferred onto the wound. The wound was slowly sanitized then closed up. During the process, Seto was moaning in pleasure… for the sensation of warmth and silkiness spread throughout his nervous system. Finally the feeling gradually disappeared as the wound was completely sealed up, much to his disappointment.

"There," Odelia finished sternly. She then started walking forward, just barely turning around to look at Kaiba. "Now let's go already."

Kaiba nodded and followed her closely.

--

Yugi blinked a few times in confusion as he looked about his new surroundings. He was suddenly all alone in some sort of hospital. Some of the patients, all Japanese, were looking at him weirdly while others were being carried off or limped away to wherever they were going.

"Where am I…?" He muttered, "Is this another one of Odelia's memories? Then why can everyone see me? What's going on? And where are my friends?"

He continued walking about, hearing mutters about his weird hair or the mistaking of his height as that of a child's, until he came across the giggles of some hyper active child. He followed the giggles until he came to a red-headed girl happily jumping and skipping around a couple.

One was a male, the same male Yugi had seen before, Keiji. He was pushing a woman in a wheelchair, Midnight, while she was looking tired and weary and holding a bundle of cloth in her arms.

Yugi presumed the little red head was indeed Odelia. Although what surprised him was the fact she was bouncing off the walls in joy. But then again, little kids enjoy doing such things.

The girl suddenly stopped to look strait at Yugi and suddenly ran strait towards him.

"Hey, chibi bouya! Come celebrate with me! I'm an oneechan! I'm an oneechan!" She exclaimed in glee, grabbing Yugi's hands and dragging him back towards the couple.

"Chibi bouya?" Yugi grumbled while sweat dropping.

"I'M GONNA BE AN ONEECHAN!!!"

Keiji chuckled in delight as he watched the miniature Odelia drag back Yugi towards them.

"He ha! It appears that our Odelia-chan has brought back a new friend to celebrate the newest member of our family."

Yugi blinked in confusion.

"Who—what do you mean newest member…..? You mean… that… you had a baby?" Yugi asked to Midnight in confusion.

Midnight smiled and made a small nod. "Why yes, Yugi-kun, I have. Would you like to see her?"

Yugi was about to ask how the beautiful mother had known his name without introduction, but the kind look on her face stopped him—as if it was the answer. Her smile was sweet and small on her pale pink lips and her eyelids were gently closed, so her face was angelic as it was peaceful. Yet, there was something strange about her… like she had the power to see deep into his heart and soul. She seemed like some sort of oracle, with wisdom far beyond her years—as well as powers beyond that of human understanding and gaining.

She pulled away the towel to reveal the newborn's face. It was a girl with violet hair and blue/violet eyes.

"… _Miya_…" He whispered beneath his breath.

The baby squirmed a bit until she was facing him.

"Yu—Yu—_Yugi_…."

His eyes widened and suddenly the whole family began moving away from him, even though their feet were not moving. And suddenly he felt a suddenly force push him forward, the whole hospital passing him by in a blur of darkness.

--

Kaiba and Odelia continued their travel to Pegasus' castle. Their eyes continuous scanned left and right, expecting any of Pegasus' security to ambush them in the darkness of the upcoming dawn. The redhead sighed just a little bit at the sight of the sky slowing lighting up, and the warmth of the Earth returning to the land just as slowly.

"So you're an early bird, I presume?" Kaiba mused.

Odelia blushed a bit but smiled, "Un. Mornings are the only times when my ashikase lightens up just a little."

"_Ashikase_?" Kaiba questioned.

She didn't look at him… just the sky. The CEO sighed with aggravation. "…Never mind."

"No… it's just that… I have a futankan that likes to bother me… maybe the weight of my sins. At night, they become so painful and so hard and heavy to carry… I sometimes get scared that they might crush me," Odelia explain, in a strangely soft and thoughtful voice, "You know some of the terrible things I've done, hai?"

Kaiba nodded, watching the sun slowly raise as well, "Mm-hm. You're an assassin; you've killed a lot of people. It doesn't surprise me that they come back to haunt you every once in awhile."

But Odelia shook her head, "No... it's not that. It was all just business and soothing my bloodlust when it came to killing all those corrupt, corporate mother fuckers. They don't really haunt me… not really."

Kaiba raised his eyebrow and looked pretty confused. She didn't regret killing them… but then again, he wouldn't either. Some of the CEO's she killed were also some that he met—and they weren't too pleasant to be around. Some, he recalled, gave him some control over the Mafia—which helped him get his hands on all three Blue Eyes White Dragons.

But he now regretted those old ties… now severed completely. But if killing them was not her regrets—then what is the weight that she carries?

"What do you feel sorry for then…?" Kaiba asked.

"For being an abomination…" Odelia muttered, "You see, my…. _Grandfather_… had forced my grandmother into a forbidden relationship—a physical bonding of a demon and a human. My mom may have been a taboo, but she was too beautiful—too pure—that no one could bring her down. She was too heavenly to be in any human or demonic standards. But for me…. I'm lower than even a worm. I only bring… chaos and dismay when I go to and from places…"

"Now that…" Kaiba stated, "…Is the most weird, gloomiest, and overall fucked-up piece of bullshit I ever heard in my entire life! Even Yugi's 'heart-in-the-cards' speeches sound more believable then this! Who in God's name told this piece of crap?!"

But Odelia looked up to the sky, filled with remorse. "But it is true… And… well… _he_ told me that."

Kaiba looked at her with wide eyes, "Your grandfather?"

But Odelia looked away and let out a large hiss—as if the word was like salt on an open wound or acid poured on nice, raw skin.

"Sorry."

He looked up at the sky thoughtfully as well.

"You know… I'm not exactly a saint myself, y'know? I've commited quite a few, fucked-up sins that I'm not exactly proud of now that I'm older. In fact, I've just realized that most of the crazy shit I was doing was wrong…"

The CEO's eyes turned cold and dark as he glared at the sky, yet there was a hint of self hatred and spite within this glare.

"And now… I realized the greatest, fucked-up mistake I have ever made in my entire life…"

"Nanjasorya?" The redhead assassin asked with curiosity.

Kaiba looked down and shut his eyes in shame. "Leaving my brother alone and unprotected…"

The memory burned him, even now…

--

"Seto! You've gotta leave now if you're gonna make it to the boat to Duelist Kingdom!" Mokuba exclaimed as he ran within the tall building… ironically labeled KC or "Kaiba Corp."

The young, black haired by finally reached the door and was ready to pound on it.

"Seto! Open the door—Huh?!" But suddenly realized the door was unlocked as it swung open freely, revealing the familiar figure of the young, teenage CEO of Kaiba Corp., Seto Kaiba. "Seto?"

The young man shuffled his card, watching each card slip gracefully from the deck into his hands, then return to the deck in a silk-like motion and sound. But his eyes were not filled with pleasure like they would be; the usual enjoyment of such a sweet sound and his awe in seeing his powerful monsters before his eyes. His eyes were filled with uncertainty, anxiousness, and self doubt—emotions that no one would think would be shown in the eyes of Seto Kaiba. "I'm not going, Mokuba," He stated, bluntly.

But the news left the boy more confused then he was just before when he saw his older brother's uncertain eyes. "Not going? But why not?"

Kaiba stopped jumbling his cards and just looked at them acidly, his glare filled with self-revulsion. He threw them on his desk, as if merely looking at the trading cards brought ache to him.

"There's no point!"

Mokuba tread in the office, still more confused as ever. "What do you mean 'No point'?" He said naïvely—his youth and innocence still fooling him now. But Kaiba closed his eyes, his body trembling with fear, "Kid, I'm in no condition to duel anyone."

"What are you talking about?!" the boy was obviously following his older brother's way, childishly believing in his brother's god-like dueling, "You always say 'Cards are power' and you've got all the strongest cards!"

The Kaiba looked at himself with malevolence, his teeth clenched as his body still shuddering. "Since I lost my duel with Yugi, I just dunno what I think anymore. Everything's different—it feels as if I lost a piece of myself that day!" He growled, trying to keep himself calm while he was talking to his naïve, little brother and not yell at him—despite the feeling of turmoil and panic boiling deep inside of him, ready to bust out.

But Mokuba kept going on, filled with hope and idolization for his big brother—and desperation to keep his brother from breaking down, "But Seto… You're the best! You're the champ!" Seto only stood up and put his hand into his jacket, gloom washed over his face. Mokuba's encouragement did not reach his heart. "Not since the day I was defeated by Yugi…"

He threw a card into Mokuba's hands… and a special, Blue Eyes White Dragon-shaped key, much to Mokuba's confusion.

"Here Mokuba. I'm going away for awhile, I dunno how long I'll be gone… keep this card and the key, they open up a safe to the crucial data of Kaiba Corporation."

Mokuba looked away from the precious keys to see his brother's face, filled with confusion. "Why? Why are you leaving?"

He watched as his elder brother stepped away from his desk, briefcase at hand. His face and his eyes clearly cleared showed emotions Mokuba had never seen before: self-pity, doubt, remorse, confusion, and sorrow.

"..._Because I don't know who I am anymore_…"

The small Mokuba watched in dismay as his brother had left, closing the door behind him. "Take care kid."

But Mokuba reached out his hand, wanting so badly to stop his brother. Mokuba cried out with plead, "Seto don't go!" But it was too late.

Seto Kaiba was gone.

--

Kaiba opened his eyes, emptily and sadly.

"Now I _really_ don't know who I am anymore…"

"Sokka? You left to go on some journey of self discovery only to come back when you found out that Mokuba was gone?"

He nodded.

"Wow. The defeat must have really taken its toll on you then, that it did."

Kaiba looked up, his eyes still empty. "I dunno what that little shrimp did to me, but now I feel weird. I feel like… I'm yearning, longing for something missing in my life… but I dunno what it is."

"Jack of trades and master of none?" Odelia questioned.

Kaiba nodded and spoke gently, "I guess you could say that."

"Well, I think it's time you find repent that sin of yours. You can make it up when we rescue Mokuba." Odelia walked on ahead, "Seku! Or else the guards will find us!"

Kaiba watched her walk on without him, his mind racing on something.

'_I wonder… is she helping me… just to make up for her own sins…?_'

He ran after her and they walked on together towards Pegasus's castle.

'_How strange… we were just enemies just a while ago… and now we're confessing our faults with each other..._'

"This better not end up in some crazy, angst-filled excuse for some teenage romance," He muttered to himself.

--

The streets were cold and damp with the pounding rain. Puddles upon puddles of disgusting black and dirty waters were countless upon the deserted, abused city ally—untouched by police forces.

Downtown, not exactly the safest and most uppity part of the urban area—but maybe that's why they call it "Downtown."

Yugi found himself standing in the middle of the rain, drenched and frozen stiff. His hair, humorously, wilted while they were sopping with water. He shivered a bit and wrapped his jacket more tightly around him, cursing himself that it wasn't waterproof.

He noticed however, at a distance, the sky was a brightening with a fiery, scarlet glow—a sign of a fire.

A small, frail girl was running down the streets, her breathing hard, heavy, and filled with fear. Her tattered clothes and her pale body were drenched to the bone with liquid rain and her body went numb with the icy temperature.

She bumped into Yugi's side, but continued on without much of a notice or a care. The hood on her shabby little jacket was flipped off however, revealed a mess of blood-crimson hair.

"Odelia!" Yugi exclaimed. He extended his hand in attempt to reach out for the girl, only to suddenly be roughly thrown aside from behind. "Out of the way, brat!" growled one of the men in the band of bulky, disheveled, and rather ugly rogues as they made their way through Yugi. They pushed, bumped, and thrown the small boy aside until he toppled into a puddle of water face first.

The young duelist pushed his small frame out of the water, spitting out the disgusting taste of muddy and rather filthy water. He wiped his face of the repulsive fluids and got up on his own two feet. He pursued after Odelia, hoping deeply in his heart that those brutes were not pursuing the little child as well.

He soon was able to catch sight of the group of men, now stopped an in the form of a tight circle, snickering and muttering to themselves with wicked pleasure. Yugi's fear had just been realized.

"There you are, little girl." One of the men snickered, his repulsive yellow teeth showing in a crooked grin. "You certainly gave us quite the exercise. We had to run a fucking mile just to reach you, you bitch."

Yugi pushed his way through the tall, brute scoundrels as he tried to see what was going on, only to see that they had pinned to small, frail female into an inescapable corner of the alley. The girl, like a small stray animal trying to defend its life, put herself in a fighting stance with her hands trembling like a tiny tree against a gust of wind. Her body trembled to while her violet blue eyes looked watery and bursting with terror.

The men laughed cruelly as the stormed closer to the child and finally one of them stepped up in front of them, laughing his ass off. "Look guys, this little wench thinks she can beat up a fucking hot stud like me!" All the men hollered with laughter and sick amusement while Odelia grew mad with insult. "Chikushou!" She snarled at them while she stood her ground.

"Watch your mouth, dirty little bitch!" The man yelled as he slapped the small girl in her face with the back of his hand, send her in a trashcan and against the wall. The trashcan toppled, its garbage flung all over the small child. The kid was now sported with a black eye for a right eye, a busted lower lip with blood dribbling down her chin, and a bloody left nostril after a collision into a solid, brick wall.

"ODELIA!" Yugi shrieked in horror. All the men turned their eyes to the owner of the voice, wondering how their boy suddenly appeared before them. The men even looked down to see him, chuckling on how amazingly short he was. But Yugi paid no heed to the insulting laughs, he merely shoved out of the crowd an tackled into the boss, grabbing his arm in an attempt to use his own weight to prevent the evil man from harming Odelia any more then he was already done. "Leave her alone!"

Yugi's planned failed, however, as the man was easily able to swing his arm around, with Yugi holding on for dear life. Finally the man's strength was too much for Yugi as he too flew strait into the wall and collapsed beside Odelia. "Aw, how precious!" The man chuckled, "This guy is supposed to be her knight in shining armor, trying to save this good-for-nothing wench!"

The men all laughed louder and watched as their boss smash Yugi's face into the dirty, muddy concrete and rub it against the boy's face. Yugi gagged and tried his best to spit out the dirt and stones; only to realize the man was pulling his head up by his hair. Yugi grunted in pain as his hair was slowly getting yanked from the very scalp... like it was about to be torn off from his very skull. "You know, up close, this kid looks a bit like a little girl." Yugi's eyes went wide.

"Oh boy… him and his cravings." Muttered one of the idiotic brutes. "Nah," The boss said, "I'm not too interested in boys now, unlike you, fag. My business is with the little wench here." He got off of Yugi and walked towards the girl and pinned her down. "If you've got no money on ya, then how about giving us something _else_? Heh heh."

Odelia merely squirmed in pain and coughed up blood, right in the perverted man's face. "The only thing I have to say to you guys is this: kusokurae!" Odelia spat in the man's face, receiving another throw down and the guy on top of her. "Get off of me!"

Yugi squirmed in pain and tried to extend his hand to Odelia, instead getting it stepped on and a bunch of men grabbing him to prevent any movements. "Odelia! ODELIA!"

"Ha! This girl isn't even putting up a fight—!" Suddenly the sound of an unsheathed sword and the sound of blood gushing out were unleashed. The head of the very bastard came soaring off his shoulders, splattering right on Odelia's chest while his body, spurting blood, collapsed at her feet.

"Shit! The damn bitch has got a sword!" One of the goons growled. "Let's get outta here!" And soon enough, the remaining brutes fled in terror, like scared little children.

Yugi was finally able to get on all fours, even after seeing the bloody action of Odelia himself, and carefully crawl towards her so he wouldn't frighten her anymore then she already was. He noticed the panic and fright in her eyes as she held her katana with shaken fingers. She noticed the man's hand was still gripped onto her leg and she stared at the hand with her crazed, trembling eyes, now filled with tears.

Yugi soon crept close to Odelia and quietly sat by her side. His soft voice tried to comfort her, "Odelia… I…"

Suddenly Odelia gripped her sword and began slicing the headless cadaver while screaming like some crazy banshee, blood began splashing all over her and Yugi's flesh and clothing. The sight of blood, of death, of murdering someone, had made her go insane.

"Odelia!" He hugged her, in an attempt to hold her back and stop her mad swinging. "That's enough! He's dead! It's ok! It's ok! You had to do it! Please stop!"

The only sound that was heard… was a loud, ear-screeching cry of horror and sorrow.

"_AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!_"

--

Yugi suddenly woke up with a gasp. Sweat was dribbling from his temples and ran down his cheek and dripped of his chin onto the soil. He panted hard and wiped his forehead. He suddenly noticed a trickle of liquid coming down his nostrils and wiped his nose, thinking it was his allergies acting up in this wooded environment. His eyes suddenly went wide when he looked at his hand.

"_Blood_."

He stared at his bloody hand intently, remembering every single detail about the dream. He remembered her crying face after seeing the corpse of her rapist-to-be, her fear and her sorrow of killing, and her insanity.

"Odelia… I bet that was the first time you killed someone," he gently uttered to himself. He gently closed his eyes and tears were beginning to develop, "It wasn't your fault... You had to kill him…. You were only protecting yourself… You just had to fight back..."

"Yugi?" A voice suddenly appeared.

He jumped out of his resting place in surprise and quickly crawled about to the owner of the voice.

"Oh… Kory."

Kory looked at Yugi with, emerald eyes. They were filled with worry. "Yugi, are you alright? I heard a scream from over here and I thought you and Bakura were being attack by some yokonor—I mean—a player killer." Yugi shook his head. "No, it was just a bad dream. Thanks, Kory."

Kory nodded gently and suddenly noticed a brightening light glinting out from the side and turn to its direction, noticing the rising sun.

"_Morning_."

"Yeah, we should probably wake the other guys now. Today's the last day and Joey and I still need star chips to get into Pegasus's castle." Yugi got up on his own two feet and stared at the sun. Kory nodded and walked off to her tent. "I shall wake my companions and till them we will be off soon."

Yugi continued staring at the sun; memories, thoughts, and emotions running through his head.

--

"_Don't worry Grandpa, I'm coming to save you. And Odelia, I promise I'll save you from Pegasus. Just wait for me…_"

--

To be Continued…

--

**Glossary**:

Daijoubu—are you alright?, everything is alright

Nisama—big brother

Chibi—small, short

Oneechan—Big sister

Ashikase—burden

Futankan—sense of burden

Nanjasorya—What's that?

Sokka—Is that so?

Seku—[to hurry

Chikushou—beast, son of a bitch

Kusokurae—fuck off, up yours

Kristen: And with that, I finally upload Chapter 8 after sooooooo many months of abandonment. I gotta say I _**LOVE**_ Saiyuki and it certainly does help inspire me with the angst and character development of my story.

Yes, I used some of Sanzo's Burial story (from Saiyuki Burial) at the end. Aw well.

I kinda think Seto and Odelia's relationship (especially in this chapter) is kinda like Hakkai's and Goyjo's... they are so very similar and seem to easily confess things amongst one another without too much awkwardness. Also, sadly, this can be interpreted that they could possibly have a certain romantic relationship with each other… just as those evil fan girls like to think Goyjo and Hakkai have some sort of romantic relationship (DAMN YOU FANGIRLS!!!).

Well, until next time, SAYONARA!!!


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